Agartala, (Tripura), 11 February 2021: The first meeting of the Gender Council of the Tripura Journalists Union (TJU), an affiliate of the IJU, took place on Thursday. Constituted on 30 January, JUA’s State Conference, the 11-member Gender Council took into account the low percentage of women journalists in both the profession and field and decided to hold workshops to encourage their participation, as part of its action plan.

The meeting was held under the Convernorship of Bindusmita Bowmik, journalist with web portal for NE India, and under guidance of TJU President Sajjad Ali. The members noted with concern that in the eight districts of the State, the number of women journalists was minimal and that there was need to understand the reasons and problems behind it and make concerted efforts to change mindsets.

At the same time, it was noted that that women were more in numbers as news readers in the electronic media rather than in field reporting and this does not do justice to either the profession nor the empowerment of women and gender equality.

The Gender Council thus decided that to encourage women and even media owners, it should have a slate of workshops addressing the issues and even offer training to aspirants as well as young women journalists. Given that it is a digital world globally, journalists should also be trained for the changes that are taking in the profession so that they are well-equipped for future jobs and better employment.

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