Shillong, Sept 13: A 6-member delegation of the Press Council of India Sub-Committee on safety of Journalists led by Mr Kasori Amarnath today held a series of meetings with Journalists, Editors and Publishers of Meghalaya at Hotel Centre Point, Shillong and also with Government Officials and the Home and Information & Public Relations Ministers, Mrs Roshan Warjri and Mr A L Hek respectively in the Meghalaya Secretariat.
It may be mentioned that the Sub Committee was constituted by the Press Council of India (PCI) with a mandate by the Parliament to examine the issue of safety of Journalists in the country. The Committee has been meeting the authorities and media persons in different parts of the country over a period of one year to examine the larger issue of safety of journalists while discharging their duties. The sub committee which is at its fag end of the mission is likely to submit its report to the PCI within a period of six months.
The report of the sub committee will then be compiled by the PCI before submitting the same to the Parliament for necessary action. During its meeting with the media fraternity consisting of journalists and managements the issue of safety of journalist was dwelt at length with various inputs and suggestions being placed before the sub committee. On the issue of physical safety it was noted that short of few isolated incidents, by and large Meghalaya has been a relatively safer place for working journalists. An appeal was made by the members in attendance before the sub committee to facilitate adequate intervention and support of the Government while dealing with complaints related to safety issues.
Several journalists also felt that besides physical safety, a more serious matter of concern
was other aspects of safety such as job security, remuneration and welfare measures which are lacking in Meghalaya. On the part of the management, it was pointed out that more support from the Government in terms of adequate and timely disbursement of advertisements and payments would help the management in improving the lot of journalists working in the State.
Thereafter, the sub committee held discussions with the Commisisoner & Secretary , IPR, Mrs M H K Marak, Secretary , Home (Police), Mr F Kharlyngdoh, Addl DGP, Mr S K Jain and Director IPR, Mr H M Shangpliang in the Meghalaya Secretariat to bring to fore the various concerns expressed by the media fraternity on several fronts. The sub committee gave valuable suggestions that could iron out the several irritants as suggested by them to other States that have put into place corrective measures to effectively deal with such issues which was well taken by the Government officials.
Mrs Marak assured the sub committee that several steps will be initiated to enable a viable environment for the journalists fraternity to discharge their professional duties effectively.
The sub committee wound up its day long mission by calling on the Home Minister, Mrs Roshan Warjri and the IPR Minister, Mr A L Hek in the formers office chamber. The meeting was cordial with exchange of ideas and suggestions by all for the overall benefit of the media fraternity in the State.
The sub committee consisting of Mr Kalyan Barooah, Mr Rajeev Ranjan Nag, Mr Upala Lakshman, Mr Arun Kumar and Mr Arvind Tengse also co-opted Mr David O Laitphlang, President, Shillong Press Club as a member of the sub committee to add a local perspective to its mission.(SP News)
