TURA, Sep 8: Journalists from various media houses who were covering the three-day budget session of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) found themselves on the outer side of the house door when they arrived on Wednesday morning.
Citing lack of permission, reporters and camera crews were denied entry resulting in an angry protest from the media groups who accused the district council authorities of changing rules at the eleventh hour and without notifying the media.
“We had covered the last two days of the session and there was no problem. Suddenly today we were barred from entry and asked to show the permission order. This wouldn’t have happened if they had informed us at the beginning itself,” complained scribes outside the session hall.
However, Chairman of the GHADC, Rakesh A Sangma, has clarified that a new rule has been put in place that restricts public from carrying mobile phones in the people’s gallery above the hall and the need for press reporters to identify themselves and obtain necessary permission from the Chairman’s office.
“We have come up with a new rule that requires permission for anyone covering the session because in the past unruly scenes that took place during debates have been misused and spread via social media depicting the house in poor light,” mentioned Chairman Rakesh A Sangma when The Shillong Times contacted him over the issue.
He also pointed out that similar rules are in place for sessions in the state legislature and also the Indian Parliament.02
