IFWJ Welcomes the E-Registration of Newspapers and Magazines
New Delhi, 22 July : The Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ) has welcomed the decision of introducing the new bill in the Parliament for the E-registration of the Press and Periodicals. In fact, the bill was to be initially introduced in the year 2019.
It will go a long way to remove the rampant corruption in the office of Registrar Newspapers of India. In a statement, the IFWJ’s President BV Mallikarjunaih and Vice President Hemant Tiwari have said that the office of the RNI has been stinking with corruption. So much so, that it is almost unthinkable to get any work done in the RNI without making many rounds to its office or without greasing the palms of concerned officers and clerks. The existing labyrinthine system is so tiring that a person from far-off places is compelled to take the assistance of dalals (touts and brokers) by paying them money to get their work done.
The IFWJ has emphatically reiterated its demand for the constitution of a Media Commission to study the fast-changing patterns, particularly in the wake of the explosion of digital media in the country. It has further demanded that the government must make good use of technology for verifying the inflated circulations of newspapers and periodicals. It is as clear that dishonest publishers make huge money, grab the advertisements by keeping the authorities in good humour, obviously by adopting corrupt means, while on the other, honest ones suffer because they do not follow the dirty tricks.
The government must also ensure that newspaper owners who do not implement labour laws and do not pay even the minimum wages to their employees must be hauled up and stringent action should be taken against them, otherwise, the whole exercise of the introduction of the E registration will come to a nought.
Parmanand Pandey
Secretary General: IFWJ
