Come and join March to Parliament on 14 December 2009. Assemble at UNI at 10 AM : Dear colleagues and comrades, The UNI Workers Union is organising a March to Parliament on Monday, December 14, 2009 to highlight the plight of 800-odd employees of United News of India, the news agency which has just survived a illegal and obnoxious take-over bid of a corporate giant. The deal would have changed the ownership structure and neutral character of the news agency, hitherto a co-operative of newspapers, and turned it into a private shop.
Following the Company Law Board’s verdict against the conspiratorial attempt of handing the UNI over to the media baron, the sinister design got defeated. However, this premiere news agency’s problems continue to persist. For last two years, the workers of UNI are reeling under a salary crisis. For last three years, they have not been paid their fringe benefits including bonus, LTA, Casual Leave Encashment, etc and they have yet to get Interim Awards of Justice Kurup Wage Boardsduly notified by the Central Government way back on January 24, 2008. Be it the question of human resource crisis or the financial needs for agency’s expansion and modernisation, appropriate government intervention is essential. We are convinced that if remedial steps are not taken immediately, the news agency may fall into an abyss beyond retrieval.
The economic recession has further worsened the situation for the UNI. Although the Union government has been generous in providing bailout packages to profit making private media establishments by increasing the DAVP rates by 25 percent, its not coming forward to rescue the finance starved news agency, running on no profit no loss basis and catering to small and medium newspapers. We demand a relief package from the Govt. to cope up section 25 company’s current crisis.
Dear comerades, The UNI has sought from the government a soft loan of Rs 30 crore which could prove pivotal for its survival and there is a precedence too. There is a precidence too. In 1992, the union government had extended soft loan of Rs 10 crore to the other news agency, Press Trust of India (PTI), which was then facing a financial crisis. We have also been requesting the national leadership to intervene in the matter of revision of Prasar Bharti’s subscription rates for both the news agencies. It has not been revised for more than last five years.
We would appreciate your participation as well as those of your members in the march as the current crisis strikes at the very roots of a free press and democratic traditions of the country as the existance of UNI is paramount for the multiplicity of sources of news to small and medium newspapers. Sir, the other news agency—Press Trust of India (PTI) was there, when UPI collapsed in 1958 due to severe financial crunch and anticepating a danger of monopolistic behaviour, our first Prime Minister thought it fit to create this second one for the nascent nation. The danger is real even now. Moreover, as India integrates itself with the global community, a free, independent and robust second news agency alone can ensure competition in the flow of news as well as help preserve the sovereignty of the nation and focus on the interest of all stake holders in a democracy.
Sir, the UNI workers Union would like you to come and join our endeavour to save the existance of the agency, which would have definitely succumbed to the corporate onslaught, had you all not joined the first phase of our agitation to save its independence and autonomy. The marchers would assemble at lawns of UNI (9, Rafi Marg, New Delhi-110001) at 1000 AM and proceed towards Parliament House at 1200 hrs. Several prominent media personalities have already extended their support to our struggle.
Regards,
(Rajesh Kumar)
General Secretary
