Skip to content Skip to navigation

Journos endrose PM

All Assam Media Employees Federation (AAMEF) has welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s views on avoiding a huge group of journalists while on foreign trips arguing that it serves little purposes. Rather, the umbrella body of different journalist units in Assam demands, Modi should take personal interest to provide due benefits to millions of working journalists and media employees of the country.

“We come to know that Prime Minister Modi has recently disclosed about his decision to avoid a bigger group of journalists to accompany him in the foreign trips. He categorically stated that in a new age journalism today, it hardly matters where the media persons are located in respect of getting update information and not necessarily it is important for them to travel with the PM for doing that,” said Hiten Mahnata, president of AAMEF.

The second reason, the hardliner Prime Minister reportedly mentioned that ‘it was a flawed policy in any case as same journalists from the same big organizations were repeated over and over again. As for small newspapers, it was the proprietors who availed of such junkets. Modi also argued that while taking 30 selected journalists for the foreign trip, the rest is always being deprived and displeased. Moreover, if there was a major policy announcement, he would address a press conference inside the country after his return, the Prime Minister asserted. Mentionable is that in his first two foreign trips (to Bhutan and Brazil) as the Prime Minister, Modi was accompanied by five journalists only. He avoided a huge group of media persons with him intentionally. It is understood that Modi would follow the same principle while he is visiting the United States of America in September 2014.

“The views of Modi are being reflected in Assam and northeast India time and again, where the accompanying journalists (with the President or PM) to foreign countries hardly did their jobs. Most of them hired the scripts of the news agencies to fulfill their commitments,” added Mahanta, who is a senior journalist of Assam.

Meanwhile, Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA) has appealed to the Prime Minister to take proper initiatives to help the journalists & media employees, engaged with the privately owned news channels, getting the advantages of a statutory wage board like their counterparts in the newspaper & news agencies of India.

“Need not to mention that over 70 per cent television employees of the country are still performing their duties with pitiable salaries, unlimited working hours and without any facilities recommended by the country's labour laws, not to speak of any statutory wage board,” said Rupam Barua, president of JFA.

Urging the Prime Minister to frame pragmatic policies to help the media persons in distress across the country, Barua also raised voices for reconstituting the Press Council of India with the inclusion of the electronic media at the earliest.

Add new comment

Random Stories

Rockybul Hussein at Kokrajhar on Sunday

BTAD miscreants being identified!

4 May 2014 - 4:04pm | Hantigiri Narzary
The trouble mongers in BTAD will be identified in a day or two. This was what Rockybul Hussain told reporters in Kokrajhar on Sunday.Addressing a press conference on Sunday, the forest minister said...

Irish Suzan as Winter Queen 2013 in Tura

15 Dec 2013 - 8:49pm | Saidul Khan
The week-long Ahaia Winter Festival concluded on a glittering note on December 14 evening with much hyped Winter Queen 2013. Irish Suzan Ch Marak was crowned as the Winter Queen 2013 by Meghalaya CM...

Sensational lead in Nagaon shame!

10 Aug 2014 - 12:54pm | AT News
Some sensational revelations are believed to have come to light in the probe in to the gory incident of Nagaon where a local youth in a remote village killed a college girl on Saturday night. The...

Digital photography training workshop at Golaghat

24 Feb 2012 - 1:45pm | Ritupallab Saikia
The Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) in association with UB Photos Institute of Photography, a wing of UB Photos, the premier Photo News Agency of Northeast India, has organised a 150 hours...

Other Contents by Author

The College of Aeronautical Engineering, which is the lone aircraft maintenance engineering institute of northeast India, in association with Guwahati Press Club has organized a daylong media aviation awareness programme in press club on 21 April 2015. Prior to the orientation programme, prominent aviation personalities from Assam including Air Marshal (retired) PK Barbora, Air Commodore (retired) DJ Sharma and Air Marshal (retired) Anjan Gogoi were felicitated. The programme was inaugurated by Air Commodore (retired) Iqbal Hazarika lighting a holy lamp.It may be mentioned that the awareness programme for media persons to understand the aviation sector of the country was first of its kind...
An Assam based painter invites brickbats from various organizations for his artworks where he has painted the Indian national flag in poor light. Moreover the same artist Akram Hussain faces condemnation for painting Lord Krishna with semi nude modern girls. Both the artworks were displayed in a group show at State Art Gallery, Guwahati.All India Patriotic Forum’s Assam unit, in a statement issued to the media, cries foul with a painting by Hussain where he symbolically drew an unfurled tri-colour pouring many objectionable items like hard-drink bottles, woman’s under wears etc. The forum terms the act an offence to hurt the sentiments of millions of patriots who admire the sacrifice of...
Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA), while conveying greetings to the broadcasting journalists and other media employees engaged in the pioneer medium of communications on the occasion of World Radio Day, advocates for better community radio access in northeast India.As proclaimed by UNESCO's 36th General Conference in November 2011, following the proposal from Spain, 13 February is observed as the World Radio Day. The United Nations General Assembly endorsed the proclamation in December 2012.Recognizing the radio’s reach to over 95 per cent of global population, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed hope that the radio would provide space to 1.8 billion young people around the world to...
William West (English) and Paolo Rosso (Italy) have invited the media persons to attend the inaugural function of Bamboo Walkway in North Guwahati on 12 February 2015 staring at 1:30 pm. A private boat will be arranged for the press persons from Shukleswar temple ghat at 1 pm (Thursday).The bamboo walkway is a structure made to underline the unique value of Rajaduar, North Guwahati, one of the most important Historical places of Guwahati.It's being made with traditional techniques to create a spot of contemplation and leisure.It's being made by the people of Rajaduar with the help of 3 Majuli craftsman to enjoy the landscape of the Brahamaputra river From the Manikarneswar Hill.The walkway...
Electronic Media Forum Assam (EMFA) and Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA) have strongly condemned the police atrocities on a lady television journalist associated with a Guwahati based satellite news channel and urged the authority to punish the guilty individuals. Both the media forums have reiterated their old demand to frame a law across the country to protect the media persons on duty.It may be mentioned that the lady journalist with a camera person on Saturday went to the campus of Latashil police station in the heart of the city for reporting about the pathetic condition of barracks, but they found some unethical practices going on there and started investigating the matter.It attracted...
The city based downtown hospital in association with Guwahati Press Club has organized a general health check-up camp for scribes with their close family members on 5 February 2015 (Thursday) in the press club premises. The check-up will start at 10 am and continue till 3 pm.Physicians from various departments like Medicine, Cardiology, Diabetology, ENT, Gynecology, Pediatrics, HPB & Liver Transplant, Dermatology etc will be available for necessary consultation and advices. The participants will also get the opportunity to consult with dietician and physiotherapists.Dr NN Dutta, the chairman cum managing director of downtown hospital is also expected to grace the health check-up camp...
Journalists and conscious citizens of Assam on Monday once again defied militants’ diktat and celebrated the 66th Republic Day at Guwahati Press Club. Hoisting the national flag, senior journalist Pramod Kalita called upon one and all to pay respect to the Tricolour, which symbolizes the spirit of freedom and also the sacrifices of numerous freedom fighters.Kalita pointed out that India, unlike many of its neighbours, has maintained the spirit of democracy since the days of Independence. He however cautioned that every Indian must be cautious against anti-national elements and also some veiled entities pretending to be progressive, secular and patriotic.Earlier, senior journalists Rupam...
Asia-Pacific Forum of Environmental Journalists (APFEJ) has emphasized on an advanced national and international early flood warning system to prevent the casualties and loss of properties to a great extent. The umbrella environment journalist forum urges the respective governments of Asia Pacific region to initiate for such scientific system and share with the neighboring nations.Mentioning about the recent floods in northeast India, the forum expresses concern that the natural calamity has snatched the lives of over 150 persons in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya. The last wave of flood just before the autumn festival, had affected millions of people in the region surrounded by...
Over 50 per cent of the city’s journalists are suffering from spinal conditions like cervical spondylosis, lumber spondylosis and slip disc. This came to light during a free physiotherapy camp for journalists at Guwahati Press Club today organized by Diganta’s Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Centre (DPRC). The camp, in association with Guwahati Press Club was organized to commemorate the World Physical Therapy Day. The physiotherapists diagnosed and treated various pain related ailments of the participants in the camp. Over 70 journalists registered at the check up camp to get their ailments treated by the physiotherapists.During the check up, it was found that 55 per cent attending...
All Assam Media Employees Federation (AAMEF) reiterates its demand for adequate compensations to the media employees who used to work for the newspaper and news channels owned/sponsored by the Kolkata based Saradha group of companies. Welcoming the latest initiatives taken by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), following the direction of Supreme Court of India, the AAMEF expresses hope that the investigative agency will be successful in unearthing the real truth behind the multi-crore Saradha financial scam erupted in Assam, Tripura, Pachim Bangla, Odisha etc. The mother body of various State based journalist and media employees organization reveals that over 1500 media employees...