Press Release :
RIBJA chief thanks information minister for his positive role
ISLAMABAD,(Parliament Times): While announcing the restoration of 25% quota for regional newspapers the federal minister for information Shibli Faraz has asked the concerned officials of the Press Information Department (PID) to take necessary steps for the implementation of the decision. The federal minister made these remarks while addressing the participants of a sit-in protest demonstration organized by Rawalpindi/Islamabad Bureau Journalist Association (RIBJA) in front of the PID the other day. Pertinently, RIBJA has been on continuous protest since one month. Besides other demands, restoration of 25% of quota for the regional newspapers was one of the Association’s constant and key demands.
In his address on the occasion, the Federal Minister for Information said that the PTI government, particularly Prime Minister Imran Khan was cognizant of the problems faced by the people associated with the newspaper industry. The federal minister said that he was also well aware of the importance of regional newspapers and was in favour of getting all the issues resolved on priority basis. Referring to the prime minister’s concerns in this regard, he said, Prime Minister Imran Khan had full sympathy with the journalists and media workers associated with the regional newspapers and was well aware of their plight. He said that with the restoration of 25% quota of regional newspapers, the process of transparent scrutiny of the newspapers would also continue. Speaking on the occasion the RIBJA president Sardar Shaukat Mehmood thanked Federal Minister for Information Shibli Faraz for restoring the 25% quota and expressed hope that the federal government would take immediate steps to get the media industry out of the crisis situation. He also apprised the Federal Minister about the RIBJA’s demands and problems faced by the journalist community hailing from the Twin Cities Rawalpindi/Islamabad.
Mehmood on the occasion thanked PFUJ Central Secretary General Nasir Zaidi, Former President PFUJ Afzal Butt, RIUJ President Amir Sajjad Syed, RIUJ Secretary Asif Ali Bhatti, Mubarak Zeb Khan, AKNS President Sardar Zahid Tabassum, Senior Journalist Gulzar Khan, Ishaq Chaudhryand others for their commitment to the collective cause and consistent struggle to achieve the desired goal.
