Raipur: Journalists and artists associated with the film industry in Chhattisgarh capital Raipur on Tuesday paid tribute to Ramoji Rao Ramoji Rao, founder and chairman of Ramoji Group of Companies, who passed away on June 8.
Journalists and artists gathered in Raipur to pay tribute to Ramoji Rao on behalf of Chhattisgarh Film and Visual Art Society. Paying tribute to him, the journalists said that the journalism industry in the country can never forget his immense contribution.
Noted journalists of Chhattisgarh were present on the occasion at the tribute meeting. Journalists associated with print, television and digital field attended the Vrindavan Hall in Civil Lines, Raipur to pay tribute to the late media mogul. The journalists said that the passing away of Ramoji Rao has left a great void in the industry to fill.
"I was fortunate to be associated with ETV Group twice. I started my job from there itself. Whenever Ramoji Sir employed so many people, he did not look at their experience. He saw potential in people and gave jobs on that basis. ETV was the first school for hundreds of journalists,” senior journalist, Hitesh Vyas said.
Journalist Shailesh Pandey while paying tribute to late Ramoji Rao said, “If you look at the CVs of any journalist, you will definitely find ETV mentioned somewhere in them. That is the vision of an institution that produced saplings of journalists. I am fortunate that I got a chance to work with him,” Pandey said.
"The vision of ETV that Ramoji Sir had for us, in that we were only concerned with news. ETV worked with its values. Whoever had his work, he had to do that work. I still remember his advice to the editorial to focus only on the editorial. I had once given the idea of sales on which Ramoji sir advised me to focus only on the editorial," Sanjay Shekhar, senior journalist recalled.
"My journey in journalism started with ETV. Ramoji Sir was like a banyan tree. So many journalists progressed under his shade. I bow down to him": Punit Pathak, senior journalist
Senior journalist Vikas Sharma said that he spent four years of in ETV. “I learnt discipline by going to Hyderabad. I got a chance to learn many things along with freedom there. I was fortunate to see Ramoji Sir closely. He was very generous and humble,” he said.
"Ramoji Sir was always updated and conscious of the news world. He always kept talking to his editorial team and reporters. He used to hold meetings and discuss local issues with reporters. He provided technical facilities to reporters at a time when it was difficult for big media groups," senior journalist Sanjeev Shukla recalled.
Senior journalist Subhash Mishra said that late Ramoji Rao was always conscious about the values in journalism. “He always kept the focus on news. He wanted journalists but in today's era media owners look for liaisoners. Ramoji Rao had a vision," he said.
Among the journalists and film actors who attended the tribute meeting in Raipur include Hitesh Vyas, Shailesh Pandey, Sanjay Shekhar, Puneet Pathak, Vikas Sharma, Sanjeev Shukla, Prafull Pare, Subhash Mishra, Manoj Baghel, Prakash Chandra Hota, Bhupendra Dubey, Rajiv Kumar and Ashish Tiwari. Apart from these, journalists and anchors Pragya Prasad, Praveen Kumar Singh, Deepak Pandey and Ritesh Tamboli.
