Development Of Press In India

During British rule, the development of the press in India was hard, and their survival was even harder as they faced ample difficulties including colonial pressure, illiteracy, and repression. However, in the later years, the Indian press became a prominent tool to win over Britishers. From 1850 to 1885, the main political task was still political propaganda, politicization, awareness, and transmission of the ideology of the nationalist. The press was considered the main instrument to carry out tasks swiftly, which is for training, arousing, consolidating, and mobilizing nationalist public opinion. Note, the first step towards the freedom movement was the publication of newspapers rather than picking up guns.

• In 1556, the first-ever printing press was introduced by the Portuguese
• In 1780, James Hickey introduced the first-ever newspaper in India called “Calcutta General Advertiser” or “Bengal Gazette”. Later in 1872, the newspaper got seized as it included unfavorable statements, especially against the government
• Later, many other newspapers came into the picture including The Bengal Journal, The Madras Courier, The Bombay Herald, The Calcutta Chronicle
• The company officers were hustling as they did not want these newspapers to reach London
• The powerful newspapers that emerged during the period included ‘Swadesamitran’ and ‘The Hindu’ under the editorship of ‘Mahratta’ under B. G. Tilak,  ‘Sudharak’ under G. K Gokhale, ‘Amrit Bazar Patrika’ (1968) by Sisir Kumar Ghosh, Bengalee (1879) by Surendranath Banerjee, ‘Indian Mirror’ under N. N Sen, G. Subramaniya Iyer, Kesari’ and many more

Government Statutes for Press

⮚ 1799, Censorship Press Act

Enacted by Lord Wellesley, this act was passed in 1799. During this act, wartime restrictions were imposed including pre-censorship.

⮚ Licensing Regulations, 1823

Licensing regulations were enacted by the acting Governor-General John Adams. According to licensing rules, the usage of the press was restricted without a license. After the introduction of this act, many like Ram Mohan Roy’s Mirat-ul-Akbar put a break on their publications.

⮚Registration Act, 1867

The Registration Act was developed in place of the Metcalfe’s Act introduced back in 1835. As per the Act:

o Every newspaper or book needed to have the name of the printer, publisher, and publication name

o As per the registration act, it was necessary to submit a copy of a book or newspaper within the first month of publication

⮚Vernacular Press Act, 1878

To establish better control, The Vernacular Press Act, also known as the VPA, came into force. The act was designed to get control over the spread of nationalist ideology.

⮚1910, Indian Press Act

The Indian Press Act was put into effect in 1910 to curtail and restrict the emerging Indian Freedom Struggle, particularly during the span of World War I. It gave the local government the authority to demand a security deposit of Rs.500 to Rs. 2000, which could be forfeited and the registration could be canceled owing to the printing of any objectionable material by the press.

⮚1921, Press Committee Instructs

On the recommendation of the Press Committee headed by Tej Bahadur Sapru, the Press Act 1910 and 1908 were revoked.

⮚1931, The Indian Press Act

The Gandhian movement in 1930 provoked the government, leading to significant repercussions. The decisions laid in the hands of the provincial government to suppress the media and press. A government ordinance was enacted in 1930 in response to the Gandhian movement. In the Second World War, pre-censorship was reinforced and amended under the Indian Press Act in 1931.Congress and its activities were declared illegal under this act.

⮚Press Regulating Act, 1942

Registration of journalists was made compulsory. All messages regarding civil disturbances and news about acts of sabotage were restricted. There were limitations on headlines and the space given to news about disturbances.

⮚Press Enquiry Committee, 1947

In 1947, a press inquiry committee was established to monitor the press law in the context of human fundamental rights issued by the constituent assembly. In 1931, it repealed the Indian Emergency Powers Act and made changes to other acts.

The history of journalism in India and the history of our freedom struggle are closely linked with each other. The Press was responsible for carrying out various political tasks including education, political propaganda, propagation of nationalism, mobilizing, consolidating, and arousing nationalist opinion.