Scribes air grievances to PCI team
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, September 25 2013: The official team of Press Council of India (PCI) which is currently at Imphal on a two-day visit to take stock of the problems being faced by journalists were bombarded with grievances poured out by scribes during an interaction programme held at Classic Hotel here today.

Among the PCI team, who were present during the interaction programme, were its Sub-Committee Convenor Kosuri Amarnath, who is leading the team and members Kalyan Barooah, Arvind S Tengre and Arun Kumar.

Commissioner of Information and Publicity, Government of Manipur Letkhogin Haokip and Director of IPR W Rajen Singh, other Government officials, and editors of local dailies were also present during the interaction.

A memorandum was also submitted to the PCI team from the side of All Manipur Working Journalists' Union (AMWJU).

Wangkhemcha Shyamjai, President of AMWJU and many other renowned journalists of the State were present on the occasion and briefed the visiting team on the kind of problems being faced by journalists working in the strife-torn Manipur.

The memorandum focuses on ten main points.

Among the 10 main points, the memorandum demanded that the Manipur Government should strengthen protection for journalists and act swiftly to prosecute those responsible for posing threats to the working of a free press and media in the State; the State Government must ensure a safe working atmosphere for journalists in the State and improve their working condition; health scheme to cover illness-related expenses of the journalists and their family should be introduced, adequate compensation should be provided in case of killing/injury of journalists while performing their duties; to provide better working condition and remuneration for working journalists; to provide provident fund for working journalists, revision of journalists pension amount and security protection for media team visiting interior areas of the State, etc.

Officials of PCI and State Government during the interaction programme

While highlighting the existing working condition during the interaction, the journalists apprised the visiting PCI team that there are no shift systems and most journalists work from early morning till late night but the salary they get is minimal.

Even after many years on the job, the pay remains stagnant making it hard for them (journalists) to maintain themselves; not to talk about looking after the maintenance of their families.

The journalists also complained about the absence of any health insurance or accident-related schemes taken up by the State Government or by the media houses in Manipur.

In many cases, journalists with prolonged illness are either terminated from the job or forced to take leave without pay/compensation.

The PCI team was also highlighted about the frequent threats imposed on the journalist fraternity both from the state and non-state actors.

Both the entities have been trying their level best to use the media in their own way.

The failure of the new rules of propaganda warfare of the non-state actors have led to frequent harassment of media persons in the form of killings, bombings, life attempts, assaults and arrests.

From 1993 till date, as many as seven journalists have been shot dead in Manipur.

Numerous life attempts, bombings and threats over the phone have become a common issue today.

There are also some UG groups who along with paramilitary forces carry out extortions from the public.

Sometimes they come together in the newspaper office to submit press notes.

There are also instances where an UG group involved in peace talk coming out in the open and even assaulting police personnel.

Under such a situation, it is very hard for media persons in Manipur to perform their duties and the freedom of the press lies at stake.

Though the government has been informed of this unwanted happenings time and again, yet the concerned authority has never done anything concrete to solve the problem so far, the journalists informed the visiting PCI officials.

The State actors have also been playing their own role in publishing or not publishing of news report in the media.

On August 2, the State Government passed an order against the publication of news items "directly attributed to unlawful organizations, organized gangs, terrorists and terrorists related organizations considered to be subversive and a threat to the integrity of the State and the country".

This has created dire situation for the integrity of the media, they added.

The media persons with accredited identity cards were not even allowed to cover certain functions of the Government where VVIPs attend even after they were given the invitation card by the State and Central forces, the journalists said, while pointing out that apart from threatening media persons, newspaper hawkers and distributors and their families have not been spared and are at the receiving end of the threats from anti-social elements.

This has been the first instance where the hawkers and distributors have been threatened, probably because the journalists refused to kowtow to the demands of the UG groups, they observed.

All in all the life of a journalist in Manipur and his/her responsibilities to uphold the sanctity and freedom of the press has become increasingly difficult and dangerous due to the pressure from all sides, coupled with the very less salary they get for the sacrifices they make for the society, the journalists highlighted.

After listening to the grievances of the journalists, Kosuri Amarnath informed that a report in this regard would be submitted to the Chairman of the Sub-Committee, PCI for necessary discussion and action.

Amarnath observed that all the difficulties confronting the scribes in Manipur are almost same with the complexities faced by Maoist-affected states of India.

However, these problems are not similar to the problems faced by journalists in Jammu and Kashmir.

The visiting PCI team is expected to meet the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister tomorrow at 4:00 pm to discuss the issues raised by the journalists in detail.

It may be noted here that the PCI team had earlier visited Maharashtra, J&K, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Kerala, Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya and gathered reports on the problems faced by the journalists of these states.