Himachal Pradesh Press Accreditation Committee (HPPAC) meeting was held here today under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary V.C. Pharka. The Committee approved 31 new cases of accreditation at State, District and Sub Division levels in Himachal Pradesh.The committee confirmed 56 State, 102 District and 75 Sub Division level permanent accreditation and 07 recognitions at State, District and Sub Division levels. It further approved 101 provisional accreditation and 11 recognitions at State, District and Sub Division levels.Speaking on the occasionm Chief Secretary Shri Pharka said that State Government had amended the Himachal Pradesh Press Correspondents Accreditation and Recognition Rules, 2002 as per the suggestions of the last HPPAC meeting held on July, 2014. As per the suggestions of the HPPAC and to meet out the present day requirement of print and electronic media, appropriate provisions had been made to provide accreditations in the State.
He said that now Editors of newspapers working from the State were being provided accreditation apart from other correspondents and a provision of accreditation to News Editor had also been made for leading newspapers. He said that photographers would be provided accreditations at District and Sub Division level and a provision had also been made to provide accreditation and recognitions to the Correspondents and Cameraman of the electronic news channels at State, District and Sub Division levels.Shri Pharka said the State Government had always maintained cordial relations with media and many facilities were being provided to facilitate them which includes free transport facilities, discount in HPTDC hotels, facility to stay in Himachal Bhawan/Sadan at New Delhi, Chandigarh and Circuit/Rest houses. All the accredited journalists have been exempted from the payment of toll tax in all the toll barriers/plaza of Himachal Pradesh and Group Accident Insurance Scheme had also been started for all the accredited and recognized journalists in Himachal Pradesh.He said that State Government had enhanced the Government accommodation facility to State Level Accredited Correspondents from 20 to 25 houses and Press Stickers were also being issued to Shimla based accredited and recognized Press Correspondents. He sought the valuable suggestions from the members of HPPAC to further facilitate the media persons.
Director, Information and Public Relations Shri Dinesh Malhotra while conducting the proceedings said that media was playing an active role in disseminating Government policies and programmes besides pointing out the bottle necks and shortcomings which was an important source of feedback.Members of HPPAC also gave valuable suggestions during the meeting which include better information inflow, focus on developmental journalism, highlighting the pilot and innovative projects by taking journalists to the fields.Shri Mukesh Bhardwaj, Chief Editor, Jansatta, Shri Dinesh Kumar, Associate Editor, The Tribune, Dr. Shashi Bhushan, Editor, ETV News Himachal, Dr. Rachna Gupta, Editor (State), Dainik Jagran, Shri Daya Shankar Shukla Sagar, Editor, Amar Ujala, Shri Sandeep Upadhyay, News Editor, Dainik Bhaskar, Shri Ashwani Sharma, Bureau Chief, Indian Express and Shri Gaurav Bisht, Bureau Chief, Hindustan Times were present in the meeting.