Focus on 'crying India and not shining India': Defence Minister AK Antony

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Defence Minister A K Antony today asked the media to focus on issues of people living in "crying India" and not only in "shining India".

"Most institutions, including the media, focus their attention on the happenings in 'Shining India'. But there is another India that is 'crying' in rural parts of the country," he said after presenting the K Vijayaraghavan memorial journalism award to Asianet Editor-in-Chief T N Gopakumar here today.

Antony said it is true that India has progressed since Independence, but there is another India where people suffer, and "social organisations should direct their torch light towards the sufferings of those people".

The award instituted in the name of Vijayaraghavan, former Associate Editor of Kerala Kaumudi, carries a cash prize of Rs 10,000 and a citation.