Speaking on the occasion of presentation of Darpan awards to journalists for their outstanding contribution in the field of Marathi journalism, he said, ``While criticism is welcome, the intention should be constructive. More often than not, the intention is to embarrass politicians and the Government. It should be curbed.''

Rane said that because of this tendency of the media, the standard of journalism, which was at its peak during the times of Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Balshastri Jambekar, has now gone down.

The journalists who were presented the Darpan award included Bapu Yashwant Jadhav from Pune division, S M Deshmukh from Konkan, Sanjay Bhokardole from Nasik, Nanasaheb Dighekar from Amravati, K R Nalamwar from Nagpur, J A Dagade from Aurangabad and Sukrut Khandekar from Mumbai.

The Chief Minister also announced Rs five lakh forthe Maharashtra Patrakar Kalyan Nidhi, which had instituted the awards in memory of the founder of Marathi journalism, Balasaheb Jambekar.