Obituary: Amar Ujala's Atul Maheshwari Is No More

He was 54; He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | January 4, 2011

As we entered into the new year, came the news which was shocking and cruel for the whole media industry. Atul Maheshwari, Managing Director of the Amar Ujala group of publications died at a Gurgaon hospital on Monday morning (3rd January, 2011) after a brief illness.

He was born on May 3, 1956. He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

Maheshwari was associated for 37 years with the media industry. A post graduate in political science, Maheshwari was instrumental in taking the Hindi newspaper Amar Ujala to new heights.

After completeing his education from Mathura, Maheshwari got early training in the industry under his father and co-founder of Amar Ujala, the late Muralilal Maheshwari in Bareily. He moved to Meerut in 1986 for establishing the newspaper's edition there. He also expanded Amar Ujala to Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Delhi besides starting half a dozen editions in Uttar Pradesh. Maheshwari also launched Amar Ujala Compact.

He was also associated with several organisations related to the media industry and was a keen watcher of the global media industry.

Shashi Shekhar, Editor-in-chief, Hindustan, who edited Amar Ujala for many years in past, said, “Atul Maheshwari was unlike many media czars. He never hesitated in giving candid opinions on issues. He always believed that information must reach the remotest areas of this country. He was truly a man of principles.”

Adding further, Shekhar said, “I remember almost twenty years ago when sending newspaper to the hills from the area like Meerut was not financially viable as there was hardly any advertising revenue from hills, Maheshwari without thinking of high transportation cost used to send copies of Amar Ujala to the remote hill areas. As he believed that information must reach the last man standing in queue.”

Sanjay Bahadur, a media veteran, said, “Atul Maheshwari was a very mild person who understood the business of newspapers better than others. With his dedication and right attitude he took Amar Ujala to new heights and made it fourth largest hindi daily in India.”

A prayer and condolence meeting will be held on Wednesday, 5th January, 2011 at his residence complex C-87, Sector-50, Noida.

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