Journalists and representatives of media associations and unions on Monday appealed for increasing the number of media accreditation cards given to each organisation by the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR).
At a meeting of the Press Council of India Sub-Committee on Accreditation held at the Kalaivanar Arangam in the presence of DIPR officials, the journalists also called for changing guidelines to provide accreditation cards to journalists working for digital media companies. The PCI Sub-Committee, comprising Vinod Kohli (convenor), Jai Shankar Gupta, Prasanna Kumar Mohanty and L.C. Bhartiya sought suggestions from the individual journalists.
Journalists also stressed the need for delinking accreditation from the welfare schemes meant for them and the need to ensure that journalists who worked sincerely were not denied accreditation.
There was also a suggestion to include representatives of media unions and associations in the Media Accreditation Committee in Tamil Nadu.
“Journalists are being harassed and their accreditation is being cancelled because they are critical of the government. Genuine journalists should not be denied accreditation. There are some outdated rules and we also want to include journalists working primarily on social media,” said Mr. Mohanty.
Mr. Kohli said the Sub-Committee, which had held sittings in other States, would draft its recommendation and submit them to the PCI soon. He said on Tuesday, the PCI members would hold meeting with the Tamil Nadu DIPR officials.
