PCI team visits Nagaland, interacts with media fraternity, police

Kohima, March 23 (MExN): The Press Council of India Sub Committee to evolve guidelines for the Media and Security Forces on reporting in conflict situations and to organise activities in North East States, Naxal affected areas and J&K, are on a two day visit to Nagaland. The team conducted a series of meetings with various stakeholders including senior police officials, the press fraternity as well as the state Chief Minister, a DIPR report informed on Tuesday.

On March 23, the team met Nagaland DGP T John Longkumer and other senior police officers of the State at PHQ Kohima. The sub-committee led by Convenor Jaishankar Gupta and members Kamal Nain Narang and Pradeep Kumar had a lengthy discussion with the senior police officers of the State on matters related to media management and reporting from conflict areas, the DIPR stated.

Concerns over the need for authentic news backed by proper facts were raised by Jaishankar Gupta as he underscored the role of the security forces in ensuring that the media is presented with all the proper facts and figures regarding any event. Gupta also stressed on the need to have a Nodal Officer who would be in-charge of disseminating information to the media fraternity. He said that the sub-committee was visiting the state so that they could get a proper view of the ground realities in the state and to experience in person the problems or difficulties, if any, that the media might be facing in the state. Based on the visit, the sub-committee would be working towards formulating certain guidelines to be followed by media and security forces on reporting from conflict areas, the DIPR report stated.

DGP T John Longkumer updated the team on the current scenario in the State and expressed that the State was relatively peaceful and that there were hardly any issues of security or threat to the media fraternity in the State.

According to the DIPR report, the DGP emphasised largely on the point that the Naga people enjoyed their right to freedom of speech and expression to a greater extend as compared to people living in other parts of the country. He further mentioned that the media personals and the security forces share a very cordial relationship with each other and in fact, help each other out on a very regular basis. Other senior police officers also added to the points mentioned by the DGP by saying that the media in the State was very independent and devoid of any influence by the Government or any other organization, the report stated.

The meeting concluded with the sub-committee members thanking the DGP and his officers for their cooperation and providing valuable inputs which would help them in formulating proper guidelines that would benefit both parties.
Interaction with

Nagaland journalists
The Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) organised a meeting with the visiting team along with media persons at Hotel Japfu on March 22.

According to a DIPR report received on Tuesday, PCI Sub-Committee member Jaishankar Gupta stated that the press faces problems ‘taking side with states or being neutral in printing articles’ in conflict zones. He attributed this to ‘pressure from organization, NGOs or other elements’ while stating that the main purpose of the interaction was to have free and fair discourse on the problems and issues faced by journalists in the line of duty. He also lamented that the welfare of journalists are neglected as till date only few states have implemented welfare schemes for the journalists across the country. He however, acknowledged DIPR’s initiative in providing various welfare schemes to accredited journalists.

Nagaland Press Association President H Chishi, participating in the discussion, opined that in the present context, ‘the media are remote controlled by certain group of people.’ He stated that the credibility of Indian media has become ‘highly questionable’ by the world not because of terrorism issues but many other issues that contribute towards India’s low ranking in terms of free press. He remarked that democracy is not fully efficient without the free press. While extending appreciation to the DIPR for providing various welfare schemes to the journalists in Nagaland, Chishi however said that much more still needs to be done.

Director IPR, Z Tokishe appealed to the PCI members to strongly recommend to the government of India to implement life insurance and pension schemes for the journalists of Nagaland. He also highlighted the various welfare schemes provided by the Department for the accredited journalists of Nagaland.

The three-member PCI Sub-Committee led by Convenor Jaishankar Gupta, along with members Kamal Nain Narang and Pradeep Kumar Jain are on a two-day visit in Nagaland and the team will conduct meetings with various stakeholders. The team also distributed questionnaires to journalists to find out the problems and issues faced by them.

Other media persons also shared their opinions and suggestions and various problem faced by them while discharging their duties, the DIRP report stated.

Source: https://morungexpress.com/pci-team-visits-nagaland-interacts-with-media-fraternity-police