AINEF urges centre to address journalists’ issues

The All India Newspaper Employees Federation (AINEF) has urged the Centre to abolish the Working Journalists and Non-Journalists Miscellaneous Act, 1955, and introduce new legislation to ensure justice for journalists across the country.
The AINEF held its two-day central working committee meetings at Kuchipudi near here and discussed various challenges faced by journalists nationwide. AINEF national vice-president Ch. Poornachandra Rao stated that the national executive meeting resolved to appeal to the Centre to scrap the existing Act and replace it with a new one. The federation also called for expediting the process of setting up a new wage board for journalists and non-journalists.
Poornachandra Rao expressed concern that media organisations were hiring journalists on a contract basis through third-party agencies to bypass wage board regulations and salary disbursements, which amounts to a violation of labour laws. The AINEF urged the Centre to end contract-based recruitment in the media sector.
The federation also demanded that all media houses implement the 2011 wage board recommendations and pay salaries accordingly. “Journalists’ living standards have declined due to the non-implementation of wage board recommendations. The Centre must improve their financial condition,” Poornachandra Rao asserted.
Avanigadda MLA and Andhra Pradesh Journalists’ Union (APJU) honorary president Mandali Buddha Prasad flagged off celebrations marking APJU’s 35th anniversary. Addressing the gathering, he stressed the need to resolve the issues of journalists and non-journalists. He also pointed out that print media is facing stiff competition from electronic and social media but remains crucial in upholding moral values in society.
Buddha Prasad lamented that some media houses were displaying bias in news coverage and appealed to them to report facts impartially.
AINEF leaders from Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, New Delhi, Kerala, and Gujarat participated in the meeting. Among those present were PSR Housing MD Dr P.S. Rao, industrialist Vikkurthi Srinivasa Rao, and former AMC chairman Chikatmatla Shivarama Prasad.