Media persons of Assam on Saturday raised their voices for a powerful media council in the country comprising both newspaper and electronic media organs.
The Journalists' Forum Assam (JFA), an organisation of media persons, raised the demand while observing the National Press Day at the Guwahati Press Club here.
The JFA in a statement issued here said that the empowered new council, in the line of India's present press council, should work as a moral watchdog to ensure press freedom and also quality journalism in the country.
The JFA, however, decried that Assam-based working journalists and other media employees were still performing their duties with pitiable salaries and without other due benefits under the country's labour law.
"Amidst the depressing environment, we appreciate a declaration by the Assam government that would include working journalists under the pension schemes from this year," said JFA president Rupam Barua.
The JFA also expressed their support to state Information and Public Relations Minister Basanta Das regarding his recent comment about the ongoing suffering of journalists.
Das had said most of the media houses in Assam have not implemented the recommendations of the statutory wage board for the benefit of their employees.
The JFA said the observation by the minister on the plight of media employees in Assam would finally pave the way for an amicable solution to the present problem faced by thousands of media workers across the state.
Understating the financial constraints of media houses, the JFA urged the state government to hike advertisement rates as compared to other states for all government advertisements meant for newspapers and news channels of Assam.
Moreover, the association insisted on regular release of advertisement revenues to media houses by the government.
However, the JFA emphasized that the money received from those advertisement revenues should go for the welfare of the concerned employees of the media houses.
It alleged that the proprietors of many media groups based in Assam have made it a habit to divert the collected funds for other personal heads with an aim to present a loss-making balance sheet in every financial year.
The JFA also appealed to Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Labour Minister Prithvi Majhi and all trade union media bodies to take the role of sentinels so that media employees of Assam can lead a dignified life with the basic minimum facilities recommended by the law of the land.
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