Dr. Pabitra Samantaray Takes Charge as IFSMN National President
New Delhi (KCN Bureau): In a landmark development for the Indian media community, Dr. Pabitra Mohan Samantaray has been unanimously elected as the National President of the Indian Federation of Small and Medium Newspapers (IFSMN), headquartered in New Delhi.
His election was confirmed during a general meeting of the Federation held at the Jagannath Temple Auditorium in Hauz Khas, New Delhi.The meeting organized under the supervision of Chief Election Officer Mr. Shivprakash and Mr. K. Sanjeev followed the constitutional procedures of the organization. Representatives from various states across the country participated and filed nominations for national-level posts for the 2025–2027 term. Dr. Samantaray was elected unopposed receiving the full confidence of the assembly.Following his election, Dr. Samantaray was authorized to nominate additional national and state-level office bearers to further strengthen and expand the organization. Exercising these powers, he appointed Mr. B.S. Deshpandey as Secretary General and Mr. Virendra Kumar Saini as National Treasurer. Additionally, Surendra Verma, Shankar Kodala, CHM Malikarjun and Mrs. K.D. Mishra were named as National Vice Presidents.The following individuals were appointed as Joint General Secretaries: Mrs. Sunita Upadhyay, Mr. Dheeraj Kumar, Narendra Babu, Radhashyam Panda and Mrs. Shivani Jalota. The National Executive Council now includes Aman Narayan Swami, Uday Seema, A.L. Vasavagouda and Mr. Amarjeet Singh Moua.Dr. Samantaray further appointed Santosh Kumar Yadu and Bhanuprap Nayak as State Coordinators for Chhattisgarh and Odisha respectively. Mr. Tahir Ahamad and Mr. Priyabrat Nayak will serve as Programme Coordinators while Mr. Navneet Rawat has been named National Media Coordinator.The election saw enthusiastic participation from delegates across the nation including A.L. Sekhar, Chenagowada, Hari D’Souza, Krishan Kumar, Shivshankar, Badapa, M.C. Madatha, M.C. Ramlingaya, Basavegowda, Mr. Adveeshappa, Mr. Jaykumar, Pushpak Mitrovani, A.K. Basu, Mrs. Sujata, Mr. Seemadri Rao, Alok Kumar, Priyavati Nayak, Mr. Atish Kumar and Santosh Patra. The proceedings were conducted under the leadership of National Convenor Mr. Mehtab Khan Chand, National Coordinator Mr. Satyanarayan Chaturvedi and Organising Secretary Mr. Sushil Kumar Sharma.The event concluded with a warm felicitation ceremony where all elected officials were honoured with garlands, floral tributes and certificates of election. A solemn two-minute silence was also observed in memory of the lives lost in the recent tragic incident in Pahalgam.With Dr. Samantaray at the helm, IFSMN is poised for a period of renewed growth, unity and stronger representation for the small and medium print media across India.