Miscellaneous
KMG reaches out to readers in East
Following the country’s shift from the unitary to a federal system of government and successful completion of three tiers of elections, The Kathmandu Post organised its first reader outreach programme in Biratnagar on Friday.Following the country’s shift from the unitary to a federal system of government and successful completion of three tiers of elections, The Kathmandu Post organised its first reader outreach programme in Biratnagar on Friday.
The programme, called ‘Coffee with The Kathmandu Post’, was attended by around 90 people, including students, young entrepreneurs and experts from education and health sectors.
The event was part of the three-phase programme hosted by the Kantipur Media Group (KMG), the parent company of the Post and the Kantipur dailies, to interact with its readers in the eastern part of the country. Two other programmes included interactions between editorial staff of Kantipur and readers, who numbered around 70, and dinner with well-wishers and critics of the KMG, which was attended by around 250 people. During the interactions and reception, discussions were held on the issues covered by the two broadsheets, and areas where focus should be laid in the coming days to create an impact in the society and to institutionalise federalism.
This was the first interaction held by the KMG since the local, provincial assembly and federal parliamentary elections were held to institutionalise federalism.
“We are very happy to hold this interaction and wish to give continuity to the media outreach programme in the coming days. This will strengthen our relationship with our readers and the province,” said KMG Chairman and Managing Director Kailash Sirohiya.
Readers of The Kathmandu Post were curious about sustainability of federalism in Nepal considering the budget constraints that the central government faces from time to time. Those from the education sector complained that the government, which has introduced a slew of long-term plans on physical infrastructure development, had ignored development of soft infrastructure, particularly education, charging it with failing to introduce appropriate policies for the sector.
Those from the medical sector, on the other hand, said the media should not put the label of “mafia” on promoters of all private medical teaching hospitals. Others called on the civil aviation regulator to allow airline companies to conduct direct flights from Biratnagar to Lukla so that more tourists visit the recently-declared capital of Province 1. Said Editor-in-chief of the Post Akhilesh Upadhyay: “We always keenly look forward to getting feedback from our readers and make improvements in content delivery.”
The reader outreach programme that started from Biratnagar, which was declared the capital of Province 1 a few days ago, will continue in other newly-formed provinces of the country in the coming days, the KMG said.