Islamabad: (Parliament Times) All Azad Kashmir Newspaper Society (AKNS), on Monday reiterated its demand for an increase in normal budget of advertisements up to Rs. 15 crore besides stressing the need for early release of funds as well as the payment of outstanding bills before June 30.
Reiteration of the demand was made during the first ever meeting of the newly elected executive body of the AKNS, an association of newspaper owners of Azad Kashmir. It is worth mentioning here that the first formal meeting of the newly elected executive body of the AKNS was held under the chairmanship of its President Sardar Zahid Tabassum wherein the responsibility of state media regarding the current situation in Azad Kashmir in the context of COVID-19 outbreak was discussed in threadbare.
The meeting expressed serious concern over the government’s apathy towards the state media, which they said had played a vital role in creating public awareness regarding Corona-virus despite facing severe financial crunch. The participants of the meeting on the occasion demanded the government of the AJK to increase the budget of advertisements in the budget for the coming financial year to Rs. 15 crore and release funds and outstanding payments immediately so that the media organization could be able to pay arrears. The AKNS also demanded the AJK government to establish a separate setup for the Information Department of Poonch Division and allocate budget. A high level committee was also formed in the meeting that was tasked with a mandate to coordinate and negotiate with the government of Azad Kashmir. The 4-member committee of representatives from Mirpur, Muzaffarabad and Rawalpindi would be headed by Chief Editor Daily Jammu and Kashmir Mr. Amer Mehboob. The members include Khalid Chaudhry from Mirpur, Sardar Abid Siddique from Rawalpindi and Raja Amjad from Muzaffarabad. Another committee headed by Amjad Chaudhry, composed of Javed Iqbal , Sardar Hameed and Zaheer Jagwal has been set up in Islamabad that has been tasked to streamline the affairs of regional newspapers with the Press Information Department Islamabad.
The meeting expressed deep sorrow and grief over the sad demise of Muzaffarabad Press Club President and Senior Journalist Saleem Parwana and DIG Police Sardar Rashid Naeem’s father Sardar Naeem Khan and Shahid Mirza, Editor-in-Chief of Changari Daily and PPP leader Sardar Javed Yaquob.
Those who were present in the meeting included AKNS President Sardar Zahid Tabassum, Amer Mehboob, Raja Amjad, Amjad Chaudhry, Khalid Chaudhry, Abid Siddique, Javed Iqbal Chaudhry, Tanveer Tanoli and Mohsin Khawaja. At the end of the meeting the AKNS office bearers offered special gratitude to the DG Information and his staff for their cooperation on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.
