TURA: The Meghalaya Pradesh Youth Congress has called for a boycott of The Shillong Times in the Garo Hills region citing delayed publication of news items and said that the boycott would commence from Saturday itself.
The Youth Congress released a press statement to the media, including this daily, stating that the move was being initiated on the grounds that delayed news was being provided to the readers of Garo Hills.
However, the statement by the youth wing of the party did not provide any detail or particular incident of news being published late.
Some men claiming to be members of the Youth Congress, on Thursday evening and Friday morning, visited the various newspaper stalls in Tura town and asked that the paper be not sold from Saturday onwards.
Meanwhile, the staff and management of The Shillong Times has informed that all efforts are being made to ensure news is disseminated to Garo Hills at the same time as in Shillong despite several constraints and bottlenecks.
The Garo Hills faces frequent power cuts for long durations coupled with regular disruption of the internet facility which hampers the collection and dispatch of urgent news.
The Shillong Times has already put in place additional manpower and equipment at both Shillong and Tura office to ensure news is regularly updated for the Garo Hills edition. Events unfolding in any part of the state or the national and international arena, prior to the paper going to print at the press, are immediately taken in so that Garo Hills readers are able to get a copy of the same by next morning.
