Rawalpindi, (Parliament Times) : Azad Kashmir Information Secretary Ansar Yaqoob Khan has assured the All Kashmir Newspaper Society to solve all the problems of the newspapers and said that the information department has always played a key role in the welfare of the state media. In the future too, the problems of journalists will be solved on a priority basis. The media should play an effective role in conveying government policies to the people and guiding the people in the right direction. He expressed these views in a meeting with the members of the executive body of All Kashmir Newspaper Society.
On this occasion, Acting President All Kashmir Newspaper Society Sher Baz Munir Chaudhry, Secretary General Zaheer Jagwal, Former President AKNS, Zahid Tabsum, Vice Presidents Shafqat Zia, Tanveer Tanoli, Secretary Finance Javed Iqbal Chaudhry, Secretary Information Nisar Kiani, Members Governing Body Ijaz Khan, Abid Abbasi, Malik Amir Shehzad Awan, Vice Chairman Press Foundation Abrar Haider, Member Board of Governor Press Foundation Zahid Bashir, Sardar Javed Iqbal, Ijaz Abbasi, Mohsen Khawaja, Hafiz Muhammad Sajid and others were also present.
The body gave a detailed briefing to the information secretary regarding the issue of newspaper advertisements, papara rules in force in Azad Kashmir strangling state newspapers, payment of advertisement arrears, and problems faced by state media.
Speaking on the occasion, Information Secretary Ansar Yaqoob Khan said that a movement has been made to increase the budget of newspaper advertisements. Letters have also been issued to all development departments for early payment of arrears.
Currently, the payment process is going on fast. The information secretary said that he would solve all the problems of the newspapers. He said that he is aware of the problems of the newspaper industry, and the problems of AKNS will be solved on a priority basis. Azad Kashmir government has increased the budget of the information department substantially to ensure fast-track development of media.
He said that along with the development of print media, the digital media policy is being improved for the development of digital media to benefit from the rapid development of digital media in the present era. The Information Secretary said that a concrete strategy will be devised to pay the arrears of the newspapers while the government will pay the arrears as soon as possible.
On the initiative of the Newspaper Society, from the year 2018, various governments issued orders to amend the Paper Rules and reduce the limit of exemption from advertisements from three lakhs to five lakhs. The list should be replaced with words from Urdu and English newspapers wherever necessary. On important national days, half-page color advertisements should be issued to newspapers, dailies, and journals, while on the occasion of the establishment day, front-page half-color advertisements should be issued.
Pending cases of digital media should be immediately included in the media list. Right to Information Act 2010 should be implemented in Azad Kashmir immediately. In the style of the Press Information Department Islamabad, the details of the advertisements issued to the newspapers in Azad Kashmir should be released in the form of a PDF file daily, while the said details should be released on the website of the Information Department.
The problems faced by the newspapers published in Azad Kashmir including distribution of advertisements and payments should be made transparent. A transparent and fair advertisement distribution policy and timely payment of dues should be devised. The interests of the media should be protected.
The executive body of the All Kashmir Newspapers Society told the Information Secretary Ansar Yaqoob that the state media is suffering from a severe financial crisis due to the hundreds of times increase in inflation, the steep increase in the prices of newsprint and other printing materials.
