About Agrowon - Agrowon

Established in April, 2005 Agrowon, a trusted brand name in Agriculture, is an Agri Publication by The Sakal Media Group. Agrowon is the world’s first ever daily on Agriculture, a 16 page tabloid with 8 editions, was launched with the objective of equipping farmers with factual information and the latest technology, to make them globally competitive and help them increase their income levels. Surpassing all expectations, Agrowon has achieved a whopping readership. This popularity is attributed to Agrowon’s sensible and in-depth coverage of farming and rural development. It is the authoritative medium pertaining to all aspects of Agriculture. New trends, better practices and futuristic technological applications are presented lucidly. And the coverage includes core farming as well as Agro based activities like dairy, poultry, fisheries, etc. Vasantrao Naik Prathistan, Pusad, Afaq, LIMCA presented Agrowon with a prestigious award for doing pioneering work in agro information dissemination.

About Sakal Media Group

Established in 1932, The Sakal Media Group is the largest independently owned media business in Maharashtra. Headquartered in the educational and cultural capital of the state – Pune, The Sakal Media Group owns and operates newspapers and magazines in Marathi as well as English with a circulation across Maharashtra and Goa. The Group also has interests in Event Management Services, Commercial Printing and also runs a Regional Television Channel.

With a workforce of over 3,500 and a vendor network that exceeds 25,000, The Sakal Media Group is a people-focused organization with an open and vibrant work environment offering scope for advancement and growth. Guided by the philosophy of ‘Social First’ all group initiatives are guided by their potential for Social Impact and Transformation.

Pratap Pawar, Chairman

An engineer from the prestigious Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, Mr. Pawar is an industrialist and a man with vision. He has been on the Board of The Sakal Group since 1985, and the newspaper has grown by leaps and bounds under his leadership. Having a presence in the entire state of Maharashtra and Goa, Sakal is now not restricted to being a ‘Newspaper’, but is a ‘Brand’ in itself.

In January 2014, he was felicitated with Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award by the Government of India.

Mr. Pawar is the former President of the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture, Pune and the first President of the Federation of Chambers and Associations all over Maharashtra. He has also been President of The Indian Newspaper Society, New Delhi for the year 2001-2002 and President of Indian Language Newspapers Association in 2005-2006. He was nominated on the Press Council of India in 2004. He was appointed on the Board of Directors of the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) in January 2007 and was made Vice President of the Board of Directors in June 2007.

He is also Chairman of Ajay Metachem Group of Industries (now known as ASK Chemicals Foundry Solutions India Pvt Ltd and a Director on the Boards of various Indian listed companies like Bharat Forge Ltd, Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd, Finolex Cables Ltd, Force Motors Ltd. He is also on the Board of the Pan Gulf Group Limited, UK.

Apart from his corporate engagements, Mr. Pawar has contributed immensely to the society as well. He is a Trustee of a number of socio-educational Institutions in Pune and takes an active part in the development of these organizations/trusts. Some of them are the Dr. Nanasaheb Parulekar Sakal Charity Trust, Pune; Students’ Welfare Association, Pune; Poona School and Home for Blind; Kirloskar Foundation, Balgram; SOS Children’s village, Yeravada; Pune Balkalyan Sanstha, Sakal India Foundation, BAIF Development Research Foundation; Nirdhar,Pune.

Abhijit Pawar, Managing Director

Mr. Abhijit Pawar has been Managing Director of The Sakal Media Group since 2004. A Mechanical Engineer by qualification, Mr. Pawar has passionately been involved in taking the legacy of Sakal Media Group to newer heights with his unique approach in combining business capabilities, in-depth experience, social engagement and advocacy of socio-economic causes.

The Sakal Media Group has reached greater heights under Mr. Pawar’s leadership with the launch of the Saam television channel, Agrowon, the first and only agriculture daily, the first newspaper in our state with a focus on children – Young Buzz and the first regional newspaper to go online. Sakal Media Group also boasts of being the first media company to organize events and exhibitions as well as the first media group to implement 6-sigma processes across the company.

As Managing Director of The Sakal Media Group, Mr. Pawar’s focus has been on the ability of the group to steer social change and transformation. He has created a unique media model called the ST7 model based on a concept of ‘Return on Respect.’ This model forms a basis of all the initiatives undertaken by Sakal Media Group.

It was under Mr. Pawar’s guidance that the Group launched the Pune Bus Day on November 1, 2012, in an attempt to throw up a solution to the traffic congestion that Pune has been facing for some years. This initiative created history by rallying 7 million citizens of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad to come together and participate in a programme towards a common goal of reducing traffic congestion with improved public transportation.

The ‘Tanishka Stree Prathishtha Abhiyan’ (Tanishka Women’s Forum) is another initiative that was conceived by Mr. Pawar. Launched with an objective of empowering women to find solutions to local community-level issues, the Tanishka Forum has found an overwhelming response from women across social sections.

Yet another brainchild of Mr. Pawar is the recently launched Delivering Change Programme, an initiative aimed at the socio-economic transformation of the state of Maharashtra by bringing together policies and ideas from boardrooms and a very realistic feedback from ground. The Delivering Change Programme has started working on Water as its first key sector, and aims at bringing realistic, turnkey solutions to the table to solve Maharashtra’s drought problem.

Apart from his role within The Sakal Media Group, Mr. Pawar holds the distinction of being on the Board of several national and international organizations. He is an executive committee member of the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) as well as a member of the executive committee of the Indian Newspaper Society. He is on the International Board of the Global YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization), a member of the Board of Trustees of the NM Wadia Institute of Cardiology and Pune International Centre, Chairman of the Pune School for the Blind and heads The Sakal Social Foundation.