NEW DELHI: With more than 425 million people reaching out to read a newspaper every morning, India is one of the top consumers of the print news industry globally. Despite the growing onslaught of the digital medium, print in India has held its own. It is still considered the most credible source of information by many. 

However, the ongoing lockdown in the wake of a contagious COVID-19, the industry is facing massive roadblocks, including distributors denying delivering papers, and lower manpower in the logistics department. 

But to make sure that the loyal patrons of many print dailies don’t miss out on their daily dose of information, MyGate, one of the topmost mobile-based visitor and community ecosystems in the country, is delivering free e-papers to them.

MyGate COO and co-founder Abhishek Kumar told Indiantelevision.com: “The newspaper is a big part of the morning for most of our users. As they are not let into most of our gated communities during the lockdown, we wanted to figure out a way to deliver them their newspaper safely and provide access with minimum effort.”

He added, “The pandemic has affected newspaper circulation across India. Although websites provide news, many readers still prefer reading the newspaper. Hence we have tied up with many leading publications.”

MyGate is neither charging the publications or the users for these services and has tied up with several leading players including The Times of India, Indian Express, Deccan Herald, Deccan Chronicle, Financial Express, Loksatta, Prajavani, and Jansatta. 

The service is benefitting 1.6 million homes that MyGate is present in across 17 cities in India.

Kumar is elated at the splendid response the initiative has been getting and says that he will continue to deliver the services till the lockdown gets over.