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Media must introspect on its role: H.K. Patil

Staff Reporter

Keynote address `State of democracy and role of media'

TIME TO PONDER: Law Minister H.K. Patil (right) and AMIC-India Chairman Vijay Menon at a national consultation on `State of democracy and role of media,' in Bangalore on Tuesday. — Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

BANGALORE: More than 10 lakh orders passed by the courts in India have remained unimplemented over years, which is not a good augury for democracy or delivery of governance and policy making, Law Minister H.K. Patil said here on Tuesday.

The media, along with the legislature and the judiciary, is a pillar of democracy, and in these times of the information explosion it needs to introspect on its role as an instrument of change in society, Mr. Patil said.

He was delivering the keynote address at a national consultation on "State of democracy and role of media" organised by AMIC-India and VOICES in collaboration with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES).

There is a growing impression that the media is no longer the independent, opinion-making forum that exposes bad governance, corruption and other forms of injustice. It appears to be no more a watchdog that sees justice delivered. The editorial board seems to have become a handmaiden of vested interests, instead of being the voice that should be raised for democracy or the underdog, he said.

In the session that followed, Ramesh Ramanathan, founder of Janaagraha, said that while working in the urban area to empower citizens, he has found that on the political platform it is the rural citizens who have the advantage over their urban counterparts in accessing the benefits of decentralised democracy. This was an ironical situation where the urban centre, which is economy-dynamic and seems more politically empowered, has very little democracy or empowerment trickling down to the individual or at least the community level.

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