Guwahati,Feb 25: Press Club of Assam (PCA) expresses worries that the country’s statutory and quasi-judicial body to safeguard the press freedom remains non-functional for nearly five months. PCA in a statement insisted on constituting the 15th Press Council (of India) as the term of the 14th Press Council expired on 5 October 2024. It also demanded to empower the PCI bringing the news channels and digital platforms under its jurisdiction and giving a new meaning as Media Council of India.
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Mentionable is that the PCI is an autonomous body, initially set up in 1966 under the Press Council Act 1965 and later re-established in 1979 following the Press Council Act 1978 with a primary objective to preserve the press freedom and also improve the standards of newspapers and news agencies in India. India today nurtures nearly 100,000 publications (endorsed by the Registrar of Newspapers for India) in various frequencies and languages including English. The largest democracy on the globe with its billion plus population also supports nearly 400 satellite news channels along with thousands of portals, whatsapp channels and other digital outlets.
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Terming the delay in the constitution of a new council as surprising, various media bodies in India alleged that the PCI has been turned into a non-functional entity over the last few months. The council enjoys a three-year term and the continuity broke last year as the chairperson did not initiate to constitute a new council on time. A recent statement of Mumbai Press Club (MPC) alleged that ‘at the core of the crisis was an attempt to oust two important and active journalist bodies (namely MPC and Editors Guild of India) from their representation. The MPC also wrote a letter to Union information & broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaisnav requesting his intervention and necessary direction to the PCI chairperson.
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“As the PCI discharges its functions primarily through adjudications on complaints received against a particular newspaper/news agency or an editor/working journalist alleging professional misconduct deteriorating the standard of journalistic behaviours, it needs to be in an alert mode always,” said PCA president Kailash Sarma, working president Nava Thakuria and general secretary Hiren Ch Kalita, adding that the PCI is also empowered to make observations if the conduct of any authority including the government is found interfering with the guaranteed freedom of the press.
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It may be mentioned that the PCI comprises a chairman (by convention a retired Supreme Court judge is assigned) and 28 members where 13 individuals represent the professional journalists out of whom 6 need to be editors of newspapers and 7 working journalists. Another 6 members represent the management of newspapers (including the owners), 2 each taken from the big, medium and small newspapers, whereas 1 member represents the news agencies. Two houses of Indian Parliament send 5 members, and 3 individuals are nominated by the University Grants Commission, Bar Council of India and Sahitya Academy from the fields of education, law and literature respectively.
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(Nava Thakuria is a senior Indian journalist who contributes to various media outlets including print and digital platforms of India and across the world.)