AJL, publishers of the National Herald group of papers, to turn not-for-profit

LUCKNOW: Publishers of the National Herald group of papers, Associated Journal ( AJL) at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on Thursday passed a resolution to convert the commercial enterprise into a not-for-profit company, and revive its three defunct newspapers.

Curiously, the meeting also passed a resolution to change the name of company which is subject to approval of agencies concerned. The move is significant as BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy has accused the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi of trying to take over the assets and properties of AJL. The matter is pending in a Delhi court. The Thursday meeting, which was attended by 32 members in the presence of chairman and managing director Moti Lal Vora, discussed the way forwards to revive the organisation founded by India’s first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1937.

“We have decided to re-launch the three newspapers, namely National Herald, Quami Awaz and Navjivan, which were started by Jawahar Lal Nehru,” Moti Lal Vora, who is also the Congress treasurer, said. “A proposal to change the name of the company was also passed which would be forwarded to concerned agencies for approval,” Vora said, adding that the EGM formalised a revival plan which was under consideration since 2010. The EGM unanimously decided to convert AJL into a not-for-profit under Section-8 of the Companies Act, 2013. A Section-8 not-for-profit company shareholders do not receive any dividend from the profit of the company and the profit is used only to promote the objectives of the company.