A Brief History

The origin of the Press Registrar General of India (PRGI) is inextricably linked to the rise of the print media in India.  

The nationalist press played a vital role in shaping public opinion and in channelizing the energy of people in India’s struggle for independence. Aware about the role of the print media in the freedom struggle, and the part it could continue to play in strengthening democracy, the Government of free India set up the First Press Commission in 1956. The commission was mandated to examine the state of the Press in India and to make recommendations for its all-round development in the long term.  

The Commission, under the Chairmanship of Justice G.S. Rajadhyaksha, had several prominent personalities and journalists as its members: Dr. C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar, Acharya Narendra Dev, Dr. Zakir Hussain, Dr. V.K.R.V. Rao, P.H. Patwardhan, T.N. Singh, Jaipal Singh, J. Natarajan, A.R. Bhat and Chalapati Rau. The Commission recommended the appointment of a Registrar of Newspapers. Accepting the recommendation, the Government amended the Press& Registration of Books Act, 1867, and established the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI), under Section 19(A) of the amended Act. The Act came into force on July 1, 1956. It is a statutory office under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Until 1956, there was no central authority for the registration of periodicals in India. The registration record was maintained by the respective District Magistrates offices. The setting up of RNI, however, changed that, its main role being the maintenance of records of newspapers and other periodicals in the country.

With its headquarters in New Delhi, the office of RNI changed many locations in the national capital before moving to its current address six years ago. Soochna Bhawan at Lodhi Road, New Delhi has been our office since 2018. Until 1977, there was also a Regional Office of RNI in Shimla, looking after certain functions related to the registration of newspapers. Regional offices of RNI were set up in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai under the 8th Five-Year Plan in the 1990s. Later, two more offices were established in Bhopal and Guwahati under the 9th Five Year Plan. However, all the five regional offices of RNI were closed in 2016 as part of a consolidation exercise, and their roles were given to the regional offices of Press Information Bureau in the respective stations--under the overall supervision and control of the Press Registrar.

At age 68, RNI was renamed. With the enactment of the Press & Registration of Periodicals Act, 2023, that came into force on March 1, 2024, the Press and Registration of Books Act stood repealed.  RNI has been re-founded. We are now known as the Press Registrar General of India.