Tarun Saikia
Tarun Saikia is a veteran journalist with an exceptional career and has contributed 50 years to the field of print journalism in various capacities. During his long career in journalism he started as an editor of the weekly publication, Na-Lakhimi. Na-Lakhimi was the first weekly newspaper published from Lakhimpur.
Weekly Noh-Lokhimi is a full-fledged newspaper with approvals from organizations and institutions such as Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), Assam; Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP), Govt. of India; Railways; and Oil India Limited for receiving advertisements with Register of Newspapers, R. N. No. 24625/73 and post & telegraph R. No. 454.
Up to the year 1971 printing technology was in its primitive stage in Lakhimpur, which was newly inaugurated as a district. Only three small printing presses with manually “Treadle Printing Machine” with hand composed pica letters were operational. Big wooden letters were used in printing instead of the ones made of lead. The service of compositors was utilized in setting up the format, layout etc. for print jobs. At that time, printing presses also struggled due to unavailability of skilled person locally in various fields such as news writing, subediting, correspondentship, labelling of packets for circulation, business development (seeking advertisements)—roles which Shri Saikia used to perform himself.
It was a crucial period for Assamese print journalism which was in its infancy, readers were a few, and road communication system was in dismal state affecting the transportation and delivery of newspapers packets to distribution agencies located in far-flung places. These are some of the myriad problems faced by Tarun Saikia for his work.
Under Shri Saikia’s Editorship, Na-Lakhimi played a defining role by publishing public views and demand for the shifting of Assam’s capital from Shillong to Dispur in the early 1970s. Na-Lakhimi also took active part in the foreigner’s issue and supported the legitimate demands during the Assam agitation.
While at Na-Lakhimi, Shri Saikia highlighted a variety of important issues of that time such as demand for industrialization, improve communication between places, demand for medical college and hospital, other technical institutions, improvement of the agricultural sector, to name a few.
Tarun Saikia, in his investigative story, “Ranganadi Jalabidyut Prakalpa Aru Bihpuriar Bhabisat (Ranganadi Hydroelectric Power Project and the Future of Bihpuria)” published in Natun Dainik, a premier daily of that time, emphasized the adverse effects of the Ranganadi Hydroelectric Project, particularly in Bihpuria and impressed upon the need to take strong flood control measures for safety of river-side people in the year 1992. The Assam Assembly took a stock of the situation and ordered investigation on the issue headed by the then flood control minister, Mr. Borgoram Deori. The flood control department and North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) were directed to submit the report of investigation. The adverse effect of Ranganadi Hydroelectric Project can be clearly seen now, which causes yearly floods leading to loss of lives and properties. This investigative story is a testimony to the impact of Shri Saikia journalistic work for which he won the Natun Dainik’s Award for Investigative Journalism two times.
