Muzaffarabad,(Parliament Times) : President of All Kashmir Newspapers Society AKNs Sardar Zahid Tabassum has demanded from Secretary General Raja Amjad Hussain, Prime Minister of the Independent Government of the State of Jammu and Kashmir Raja Farooq Haider Khan, Azad Kashmir Finance Minister Dr. Najib Naqi, Chief Secretary Azad Kashmir and Finance Secretary Azad Kashmir that from the normal budget of newspapers worth 2 crore Normal should be released immediately so that normal bills are paid to the newspapers on June 30.
If approval is not issued before the budget session, newspapers will boycott the coverage of the forthcoming Legislative Assembly budget session and later the post-budget press conference and will not publish any kind of material in the newspapers. Not paying normal bills to the newspapers on June 30 is tantamount to stifling the state press in particular. Government departments already have arrears of crores of rupees for the development of newspapers and now with the hatefulness of the finance department Rs. 1.5 crore for payment of normal arrears last year,
the Finance Department provided and promised to include these conditions in the budget book that if the department spends this amount first, additional expenses will be provided in terms of expenses. But now the Finance Department expenditure of Rs 2 crore in normal newspapers is due to the Information Department. Therefore, Rs. 2 crore of normal should be released immediately for the payment of normal bills of newspapers before June 30 so that the bill can be paid in time by punching the accounts department.