JFA lauds HC ruling

Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA) expresses happiness and gratefulness over the recent Gauhati High Court directive to the management of Janasadharan, an Assamese daily newspaper to clear all the unpaid wages of the employees till January and also make an endeavour to pay the current wages accordingly.

The court also asked the management of Janasadharan Printing and Publication Ltd to restart publishing the newspaper, which has already been honoured by the proprietor with full cooperation of the employees.

Janasadharan, owned by Congress leader Rockybul Hussain and then edited by Left intellectual Dr Shivnath Barman, was suddenly stopped from publication by the management in last November, following which the employees lodged a complaint in the legal authority.

Few employees had already left with the newspaper with some financial benefits offered by the management but many did not resign and vowed to fight legally against the shut down. The agitating employees also continued attending the office of Janasadharan without any salary from the management since December.

“We hope that the renewed initiative to publish Janasadharan regularly will be fruitful for the dedicated employees of the newspaper in particular and thousands of its committed readers in general,” said a statement issued by JFA president Rupam Barua and secretary Nava Thakuria.

The statement argues that many newspaper house-owners in northeast India started closing their outlets fearing of the Supreme Court’s verdict over the implementation of Majithia Wage Board recommendations for the benefit of the print media employees with affect from November 2011.

According to the apex court of the country, each and every newspaper & news agency in India must hike the salary & other benefits to their employees under the new wage board recommendations. As the media houses in the region, except the Assam Tribune group, have not implemented the recommendations, every employee can claim over 60 months’ outstanding payments from their respective managements, added the statement.