KARACHI, (Parliament Times) Sindh Information Secretary Nadeem Ur Rahman Memon while addressing the “Meet the Editors” program organized by the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) said that press freedom was the backbone of a democratic system. Solving the problems faced by the newspapers and journals of Sindh province is their priority. He met with various media organizations as soon as he assumed charge and now he will also visit media houses and newspaper organizations. Meanwhile, Secretary General of CPNE Aamir Mehmood and others informed Secretary Information Sindh about the situation of print media in the province. On this occasion, the members said that the advertising quantum of small and regional newspapers was so low that the newspapers were barely able to meet their expenses. It has become impossible to pay salaries and buy newsprint. Due to non-payment of long-standing dues to advertising agencies, newspaper organizations are facing serious financial difficulties. Inflation, especially the daily rise in the value of the rupee, and inflation have affected medium and small-scale newspapers. forced to fight for survival.CPNE demanded that the list of official advertisements issued to newspapers be displayed on the official website of the Sindh Information Department. On this occasion, CPNE Vice President Dr Jabarakhtak, former Secretary General Ijazul Haq, senior members Qazi Asad, Sher Mohammad Khawar, Rafiq Ahmad Pirzada, Mudassar Alam, Saeed Khawar, Nusrat Mirza and Balqis Jahan told the Information Secretary Sindh that Through its efforts, CPNE has applied the formula of 15/85 for recovery from Ad Agency during the past years, which was being followed by the Sindh government, but the payment of old dues is still pending, for which Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon had assured of allocation of funds from budgeted advertisements to non-budgeted advertisements, which now only needs to be implemented. He demanded that the Ministry of Information Sindh be activated on renewal requirements for the transparency of government advertisements. The members also described the arrests and prosecutions of journalists during their coverage of the relief situation for the flood victims last year and said that the forced silencing of journalists was a major obstacle to the continuation of democracy. He demanded that journalists should be provided with ease in performing their duties. Secretary Information Sindh Nadeem Ur Rahman Memon while appreciating the efforts of CPNE assured that the problems of newspapers of Sindh will be solved on a priority basis while guidance will also be taken from CPNE in this regard. In this regard, he specially instructed the Director of Advertising Imtiaz Ali Joyo, Director of Administration Muhammad Yousaf Kabura and Director of Press Information Hasan Asghar Naqvi of the Sindh Information Department to stay in touch with CPNE. Secretary General Aamir Mehmood, Vice President Dr Jabbar Khattak, Finance Secretary Ghulam Nabi Chandio, Chairman Sindh Committee Syed Hamid Hussain Abidi, senior members Qazi Asad Abid, Saeed Khawar, Ijazul Haque, Arif Baloch, Abdul Khaliq Ali, Ali bin Yunus, Arif were present in the meeting. Baloch, Faraz Chandio, Mohammad Tahir, Salman Qureshi, Syed Mudassar, Abdul Salam Bath, Mohammad Tahir, Hamida Ghangharu, Mohammad Siraj, Imran Korai, Sher Mohammad Khawar, Rafiq Ahmad Pirzada, Mudassar Alam, Nusrat Mirza, Sahab Barro and Bilqis Jahan participated.