Rajasthan Patrika is an unabashedly family-run newspaper and the promoters, the Kotharis, believe their business cannot work in any other way
What was born in 1956 as a quarter-sized eveninger—started by Karpoor Chandra Kulish with Rs 500 borrowed from a friend and just “two-and-a-half people”
as staff—has grown up. It is now a reputed Hindi daily, spread across eight states, spanning 34 cities with over 250 editions. That is how far Rajasthan Patrika has come, both in size as well as geographically. Not only is it present in most states of the Hindi heartland but also in non-Hindi states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and West Bengal. Officially known as Patrika in most regions, much of the newspaper’s growth has taken place in the last decade after it was woken up from slumber by Dainik Bhaskar (DB) which entered the former’s bastion of Rajasthan in 1995-96.
At this point, the family reminds you why Rajasthan Patrika was started way back in the 1950s. Karpoor Chandra Kulish was a reporter in a local newspaper then and was exasperated with the political affiliations publications had in the state. He felt the need for an independent paper that would be the voice of the common man. Today, Kulish would have been pleased to see his progeny attempting to uphold his values amidst political as well as corporate (and advertiser) pressures on the group.
(This story appears in the 21 March, 2014 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)