Journalists’ groups write to I&B Minister against new accreditation guidelines

The letter, with the subject “Protest by the journalists against the new guidelines”, written by Press Club of India’s president and secretary general, was also signed by the heads of Women Press Corps of India, Press Association, Delhi Union of Journalists and Working News Cameraman Association.

They said in the letter that various journalists’ organisations, associations and unions “under the aegis of Press Club of India held a meeting today and discussed the new PIB accreditation guidelines”.

“The meeting after the detailed discussions strongly opposed the unilateral and unfair decision of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in drastically altering the guidelines and forming a lopsided Central Media Accreditation Committee (CMAC). Both the guidelines and the CMAC violate the existing guidelines framed by the apex media body Press Council of India,” the letter said.

The government had re-constituted the CMAC, which is the decision-making body on who gets the PIB accreditation. Headed by Principal Director General of the Press Information Bureau, Jaideep Bhatnagar, it includes representatives of the Working News Cameraman Association, Press Association, All India Newspaper Editor’s Conference, National Union of Journalists, All India Small and Medium Newspapers Federation, and 18 working journalists as nominated members.

Under the new guidelines, a journalist can lose government accreditation if he or she “acts in manner which is prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement of an offence”.