SHILLONG: A delegation of the Meghalaya Editors’ and Publishers’ Association (MEPA) on Wednesday met Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Manish Tewari, and apprised him of the problems dogging journalists and publishers in the State.
Following a patient hearing, the Union Minister assured full support in addressing the issues brought to his notice, in an expeditious manner.
The MEPA, led by its president, RM Shabong, Editor and Publisher of Rupang, brought to the notice of the Minister the disparity in distribution of advertisements by the State Government, which ignores local newspapers and prefers regional or national papers.
Shabong explained that the regional or national papers, despite having small offices and despite not making contributions to the State and its people, have been taking away the lion’s share of the advertisements, whereas local papers are either completely ignored or given minimal advertisements.
“This has burdened the local media fraternity as the state does not have any visible industry or corporate presence and moreover, the private advertisers are already out of the scenario.
The preferential treatment to regional and national newspapers shown by the State Government has further weakened the local papers,” Shabong stated.
The Minister assured that he would issue directive to the State Government and also send a delegation from the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) to further address the needs of the local media houses.
He also assured to give a directive to the Chief Minister to expeditiously set up the Single Window Agency for clearance of advertisement and their bills in line with the DAVP.
Tewari, further, agreed to assess the present role of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) in Meghalaya and ensure that it functions in the right earnest and performs its responsibilities of being the nodal point for coordination and interaction between the Central and the State media fraternity.
Tewari also held the opinion that local media personnel should accompany VIPs on foreign tours pertaining to matters involving the region.
With regards to insurance for working journalists, Tewari expressed his interest to extend the Central Health Insurance Scheme (CHIS) to accredited journalists serving in Meghalaya, besides making provisions for central welfare schemes for media persons.
He also assured that he would examine the demand for a dedicated counter/ quota in Shillong for journalists to avail railway and flight tickets, thus negating the need for local journalists to visit Assam to avail such facilities.
The MEPA delegation led by Shabong included Patricia Mukhim, Editor of The Shillong Times, Thomas Lim, Editor of Meghalaya Times, Deepak Singh, Joint Editor of Meghalaya Times, SS Syiem, Editor of U Peitngor, Digros D Shira, Editor of Garo daily Da.alni Kobor, Starfing Pdahkasiej, Editor of SP News Agency and Anthony N Nongbri, Editor of Kyrsiew, a vernacular weekly.