Former editor of Hindi Blitz Dr. N. K. Nautiyal no more

The doyen of Hindi journalism, a veteran writer and former editor of popular tabloid Hindi Blitz and Nutan Savera, Dr. Nand Kishore Nautiyal is no more. He took his last breath on 30th August at his Dehradun residence where he was convalescing from last few days.

Earlier, Dr. Nautiyal refused to be admitted in ICU and preferred a quiet death. Dr. Nand Kishore Nautiyal who was the former state minister of Uttarakhand had also served as the chairman of Badrinath Kedarnath Mandir Samittee. He was living in Mumbai, however originally hailed to Masaan village, Sithonsiun Patti of Pauri Garhwal district.

Dr. Nand Kishore Nautiyal with a modest village background had shifted to Mumbai to pursue his journalistic career. He worked in several other newspapers in Maharashtra and contributed hundreds of articles in national and regional dailies. However, it was a turning point for him when he joined the Hindi Blitz, Mumbai. He had also worked in Navbharat Saptahik Mumbai, Dainik Lokmanya Mumbai, Lokmat Nagpur, Delhi Press Sarita, and several other prestigious publications before joining Hindi Blitz. In association with a former journalist J. K. Karanjia at Hindi Blitz, Dr. Nautiyal, as an editor of the paper, had achieved a tremendous prestige and reputation. The newspaper was famous to highlight and expose various scoops during the emergency in 1977. After retiring from Blitz, he started his own publication Nutan Savera weekly and contributed a lot towards the promotion of Hindi literature.

Late Dr. N. K. Nautiyal in a jovial mood with his family in Mumbai

The people-friendly journalist was extremely close to the political stalwart and former Union minister and chief minister Dr. Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna. He played a vital role in the formation of Democratic Socialist Party at the national level under the leadership of late H.N. Bahuguna.

Dr. Nand Kishore Nautiyal was also a labor union leader who fought for the rights of the workers in his capacity as the president of the CPWD workers Union from 1954 to 1957. He was extremely active in several other movements including the ‘Separate Uttarakhand’ movement, Goa Liberation Movement and many journalists’ struggles.

Dr. Nand Kishore Nautiyal was honored with many prestigious awards such as Sangita Vachaspati Samman of Hindi Sahitya Sammelan of Prayag, Pandit Jhabarmal Smriti Award (Bhopal), Aashirvaad Samman (Mumbai), Hindi Patra Lekhak Sangh Puraskaar, Haneshmani Smriti Samman and many more.

He was a progressive orator, writer, social activist and a huge-hearted human being having a sound network of political connections at the national level including the leaders of all the political parties who respected him to the core.

Dr. Nand Kishore Nautiyal’s contribution to promoting Hindi literature at the pan India level is unforgettable. His demise is a huge setback to journalism and literature fraternity of the country and Uttarakhand. May the Almighty give peace to his pious soul.  Uttarakhand Journalists Forum pays its rich tributes to this towering journalist.