Case of unpaid advertisement bills: Media raises boycott ultimatum
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, April 16 2022:
Taking strong exception to the non-clearance of advertisement bills, the media in Manipur under the aegis of Editors' Guild Manipur (EGM) and Manipur Hills Journalists' Union (MHJU) have decided to boycott all news related to the Government of Manipur, the BJP Manipur Pradesh and Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee from April 24 .
The All Manipur Working Journalists' Union is supporting the protest decided by the EGM and MHJU.
In a joint statement, EGM and AMWJU said that in case of the BJP and Congress, the unpaid bills pertain to election advertisements.
Bills running into lakhs of rupees, outsourced to external advertisement agencies remain unpaid till now, said the joint statement and appealed to the BJP Manipur Pradesh and MPCC to clear the bills by April 23 after which the boycott will be enforced in case the bills remain unpaid.
In the case of Manipur Government, bills running into nearly Rs 10 crore have not been paid for the last several years, said EGM and AMWJU and added that a memorandum to pay the outstanding dues was submitted to the then Information Minister on November 27 last year.
An assurance from the Chief Minister and strict instructions to have the unpaid bills paid led to the suspension of any agitation the media persons might have had then.
This was followed by another meeting with the Chief Secretary according to whom all the bills would be cleared by March 31 this year.
Except for around 10 percent of the outstanding bills being cleared, the matter has remained sidelined for nearly five months now, said the joint statement.
Media houses across the State are reeling under the impact of the pandemic and the resultant shrinking market, said the joint statement and added that in case the outstanding bills are not cleared by April 23 then a meeting will be held to discuss the method and details of the boycott.