‘स्प्राउट्स न्यूज’ नामक एक नए अखबार ने लीड खबर का प्रकाशन किया है कि मुंबई के कई पत्रकार इन दिनों आयकर विभाग के निशाने पर हैं. बीएमसी स्टैंडिंग कमेटी के चेयरमैन यशवंत जाधव के यहां ईटी रेड के बाद कई ऐसे डाक्यूमेंट्स मिले हैं जिससे पता चलता है कि बीएमसी में करप्शन की खबरें न छापने के नाम पर मुंबई के कई पत्रकारों ने काफी कुछ ‘हासिल’ किया है.
देखें स्प्राउट्स न्यूज के एडिटर इन चीफ उन्मेश गुजराथी की रिपोर्ट-
Mumbai journalists on IT radar
UNMESH GUJARATHI
The office and residence of BMC Standing Committee Chairman Yashwant Jadhav was raided by the Income Tax department on February 25 and confidential documents containing the names of some contractors and officers involved in clandestine deals, were seized.
The inquiry is being held against the officers involved in suspicious deals. Surprisingly the list of the tainted persons also includes the names of some of the media representatives, the IT sources said.
The BMC’s annual budget is over Rs. 45000 crore and large-scale corruption takes place in the BMC, according to Opposition parties in the BMC. To suppress the news related to corrupt activities, the media representatives are managed by giving a certain amount to them every month. Such “adjustment” has been taking place for the years together.
The opposition BJP had alleged that Jadhav possesses 32 flats only in Mumbai and has amassed over Rs. 25,000 crore. Yet the alleged corruption was not highlighted by electronic or print media. The BMC beat is considered a “creamy beat” in Mumbai media circles.
As such some of the reporters are stuck to the BMC beat for 20 to 25 years. They changed their jobs, but do not leave their beat. They flood their newspapers with stories based on press handouts provided by BMC’s public relation department and that is the reason civic issues and related corruption is hardly exposed.
The IT inquiry can throw light on many such issues and corruption. The inquiry about the activities of Reporters, their editors, media agents can be conducted by the IT. But there are chances of such inquiry being suppressed.