Industry stalwarts remember late R N Dutta Baruah

We share below the obituary by Ranjan Kuthari and a reflection by his AIFMP teammate, the current president of AIFMP – Govind Bhargava.

Obituary by Ranjan Kuthari:

He was instrumental in changing the printing industry landscape in the north east. He was pioneer in development of offset printing in North East India.  For the world he was Ramendra Narayan Dutta Baruah, for his school teachers and friends he was RD. He was a good human being with willpower, courage, conviction and resilience.

His father died at his early age. However, it did not deter him from concentrating on his studies. He excelled in academics as well as athletics. In his school days, he was the head boy of his school. Later in 1967, he joined the family business of printing and publishing.

A well-known publisher himself, he was associated with the Assam Press Owners’ Association. He was president of All India Federation of Master Printers in 2007-08. Also, he was honoured with the Excellence in Printing Award by the All India Federation of Master Printers in 2005.  

He launched in 1968 ‘Saptahik Nilachal’, an Assamese weekly newspaper. This was followed with the launch of The News Star in 1982 – an English daily newspaper, which was also the first newspaper in the country to have a coloured front page.

Govind Bhargava reflects his memories:

I was in regular touch with late Dutta Barua, who was president of Federation just five years back. He was a very pleasant personality and it was a pleasure to be with him. He had knowledge of many things and had varied interests.

Having come to know that I like Darjeeling tea, he once explained to me in detail how a perfect liquor tea should be made. He was a great swimmer. Being a Freemason, he used to call me brother. He took keen interest in Federation activities and started many projects in his tenure as president.

We have lost a passionate printer and a great human being.