''Vauraddeancho Ixtt'' (Workers' Friend) is a

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to ...

n weekly magazine in

Romi Konkani Konkani in the Roman script, commonly known as Romi Konkani or ''Romi Konknni'' () refers to the writing of the Konkani language in the Roman script. While Konkani is written in five different scripts altogether, Romi Konkani is widely used. Rom ...

. It has been published continuously since 1933 and is one of the oldest publications in the state. It was started on 4 January 1933 by Fr Arsencio Fernandes and Fr Graciano Moraes in order to protect poor and less educated workers against

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

propaganda that they were being exposed to. The charge later passed on from the diocesan priests to the hands of the Society of Pilar. ''Vauraddeancho Ixtt'' started writing on topics such as the comunidade system and the

caste system Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

. It has supported various issues since then like the struggle of ''Ramponkars'' in the late 1970s and the early 1980s, land grab, falling employment,

environmental degradation Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution. It is ...

, concerns of democratic and human rights violations, food and

water scarcity Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity: physical or economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity is wher ...

and the failing Public Distribution System. The weekly played a brave role in the support of Goa’s freedom struggle, a role that angered the Portuguese who then imposed clamps on the paper. It played the role of a nationalist newspaper that the Portuguese tried to suppress before the Invasion of Goa. It was initially published in Konkani, Portuguese, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. Currently, it is mainly in Konkani, with a few columns in English. ''Vauraddeancho Ixtt'' gives away awards every year that are conferred upon Konkani writers and on those who contributed significantly to the Konkani language and to Goan culture. Social activists and young Konkani writers who have been associated with the weekly are also felicitated on the occasion. According to

Google Analytics Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic, currently as a platform inside the Google Marketing Platform brand. Google launched the service in November 2005 after acquiring Urchin. As o ...

, the online edition of ''Vauraddeancho Ixtt'' is read in over 50 countries. It has a circulation of 15,000 copies in Goa,

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the '' de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

, other parts of

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

and overseas. In 2010, there was a fresh surge in interest in the magazine as it launched a

Facebook page Facebook is a social-network service website launched on February 4, 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg. The following is a list of software and technology features that can be found on the Facebook website and mobile app and are available to users of ...

which has become very popular.

External links

''Vauraddeancho Ixtt'' website

References

{{Konkani language topics Magazines published in India Magazines established in 1933 Mass media in Goa Konkani-language magazines