India's only Sanskrit newspaper fights for survival

Set to complete 46 years of its existence next month, Sudharma, which claims to be India’s only running Sanskrit daily, is facing severe financial crunch which threatens its survival.   

The editor of the Mysore-based daily, which has a circulation of 3000 copies, has approached the Centre for assistance but is yet to get a response.   

"We need support. The yearly subscription of this newspaper costs a mere Rs 400, and the circulation is coming down. We have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, HRD Minister Smriti Irani and Home Minister Rajnath Singh but have not received any response yet," said editor of the newspaper Sampath Kumar.   

Now they have published an appeal in the paper requesting donations from the public.    

"In today's time of electronic gadgets and fancy magazines, it has been a struggle to keep the paper alive. Our readers and well wishers have been giving us lot of inputs and ideas to improve the circulation and reader base of the newspaper.   

"We have thought of giving a facelift to the paper and to come up with Sudharma magazine (half yearly). To do so, we need to equip ourselves with modern day printing gadgets and accessories.    

"We are buying an imported single colour offset machine. The estimated cost of this is about Rs 20 lakh. We need your help to put these dreams into action. We request you to help us kindly with your donations. Please help us spread the language to a wider audience," the appeal reads.   

"Sudharma is not a revenue-generating venture for us. It's a fruit of our passion for journalism and Sanskrit," said Kumar.    

Sudharma was launched by Kalale Nadadur Varadaraja Iyengar, a Sanskrit scholar, in 1970 with the goal of propagating the language.