India’s first museum of printing industry to come up in Pune

“Being a 100-year-old association, it is our moral responsibility to spread awareness among the general public about the printing legacy,” said Raveendra Joshi, president of the Poona Press Honors Association and national president of the All India Printers Association, Delhi, at a press conference last week.

He added, “The overall cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 10 crore.’’

About the centenary celebration, he said, “We feel that this is a matter of pride for the print industry and the people who have contributed to this field and proved their excellence in it must be honoured.”

A ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ will be presented to Vijay Kumar Chopra, PTI chairman, and several other people from various print segments such as paper manufacturers and printing press owners. Along with the award ceremony, a docubook titled Shatamudra presenting the 100-year journey of the Association will be launched.

A documentary film on the print industry in India will be screened at the event and a special issue of the Associa-tion’s 80-year-old magazine, Mudran Prakash, will be released.

The Association will also present a special postal stamp and postal cover to commemorate the occasion.

Speaking about the origins of the Association, Joshi said its mission is to promote technology, education and management in the print industry. “The Poona Press Owners Association was formed in 1919 by several visionary press owners to resolve certain issues that printers faced after the First World War, like scarcity of material and labour problems.”

Joshi added, “We buy the raw material in bulk directly from manufacturers and provide them to our members at a discount, making us the only printing press association in the world that functions on a module like this.”

Along with the printing museum in the city, the Association is planning to start a ‘printing mall’ at Navi Peth. “The project will be set up in an area of 10,000 sq feet and serve as a one stop place to find all printing press related material under one roof,” he added.