(29 November 2005 10:00 pm)

MUMBAI: The Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi is of the opinion that strong and vibrant media is necessary for ensuring optimum benefits from democracy.

Speaking at the inauguration of a seminar on South Asian Cooperation: Agenda for Media, organised by Broadcast Worldwide, he said the presence of an insightful media helps in maintaining the delicate balance between legislature, executive and judiciary.

Dasmunsi said that the media has the responsibility to ensure just place to all sections of society. "It must provide adequate space to the issues related to women and children more prominently in the rural areas so as to ensure that they also play active role in the development of the nation," he said.

Dasmunsi added that India was looking forward to a more meaningful cooperation between the fourth estate in the member countries of Saarc. "Development of satellite technology together with widespread computerisation can catalyse efforts in achieving this goal. The print and visual media can help people understand cultural divergence and social background of people in the region," he said.

"Saarc has been founded for the very purpose of expanding and nurturing cooperation amongst neighbouring countries, so that developments in the fields of science, technology, agriculture, education, trade and commerce etc. could benefit people of the region. The recent Saarc summit in Dhaka reiterated this solemn pledge, conceptualised by the founding fathers of the Saarc movement," he concluded.