''Vauraddeancho Ixtt'' (Workers' Friend) is a Goan weekly magazine in Romi Konkani. 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 () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

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 A caste is a fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (endogamy), foll ...

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

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, concerns of democratic and human rights violations, food and

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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 The Annexation of Goa was the process in which the Republic of India annexed the Portuguese State of India, the then Portuguese Indian territories of Goa, Daman and Diu, starting with the armed action carried out by the Indian Armed Force ...

. It was initially published in

Konkani __NOTOC__ Konkani may refer to: Language * Konkani language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Konkan region of India. * Konkani alphabets, different scripts used to write the language **Konkani in the Roman script, one of the scripts used to ...

, Portuguese, and English. 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

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, 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 ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, other parts of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

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

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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