The Press Council of India (PCI) today approved the report of the Sub-Committee on media and media scenario in Jammu and Kashmir at the full Council convened here today. The report was released at a Press Conference addressed by the PCI Chairman Justice C K Prasad at the Media Complex here this evening.This is for the first time in recent history that the PCI held its full council meeting in Srinagar.The meeting was chaired by PCI Chairman Justice C K Prasad. The PCI Members who attended today's meeting include Mr S N Sinha, (President, Indian Journalists Union), Mr Prakash Dubey (Group Editor Dainik Bhaskar), Mr Prabhat Kumar, Mr Apoorbha Kumar, Mr Bipin Newar, Mr Rajiv Ranjan Nag, Mr K D Chandola, Dr Suman Gupta, Dr K Sreenivasrao, Mr C K Nayak, Mr Prajanand Chaudhri, Mr Sondeep Shankar, Mr K Amarnath and Mr Gurinder Singh.
Ms Vibha Bhargava, Secretary PCI, Ms Poonam Sibal, Deputy Secretary PCI and other PCI officials were also present at the meeting.Pertinently, a 3-Member PCI Sub-Committee headed by Mr S N Sinha visited Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh earlier this year to discuss the issues facing the media in the State.
Following the extensive visit of the PCI Sub-Committee to all the regions of the State and wide-ranging deliberations with the stakeholders, the full Council is now convening its annual meeting in Srinagar to dwell on detail on the issues confronting the media.This will be the last full council meeting of the present Press Council before the new Council is constituted towards the end of this year.The PCI Chairman lauded the extraordinary arrangements made by the Department of Information and Public Relations, Government of J&K and the personal efforts of the Director Information, Mr Muneer-ul-Islam in painstakingly facilitating the visits of the Sub-Committee to the various parts of the State and successfully organizing the full Council meeting today.The PCI also appreciated the decision of J&K Government for forming a Media Advisory Committee (MAC) following the recommendations of the PCI Sub-Committee to look into the issues confronting the media in the State.
Meanwhile, several delegations of media owners, editors and working journalists called on the PCI delegation here this afternoon and apprised them of the issues confronting the media in the State. These included Kashmir Editors Guild, J&K Joint Forum of Newspaper Editors, Kashmir Working Journalists Association, TV Journalists Association Kashmir, J&K News Agencies Association, Video-Journalists Association, Photojournalists Association and others. (CNS)