4-5 March 2020 : The IJU held its National Executive Committee meeting in Vijayawada on 4-5 March 2020, hosted by the Andhra Pradesh Media Federation (APMF). The session was presided over by President Geetartha Pathak and other than organizational matters after the NEC held in Imphal, members took stock of press freedom and labour laws issues among others, which continue to be increasingly under grave threat under the present government.
Nov 24-25, 2019 : A free and independent press, ethical journalism, safety of journalists, decent working conditions, gender equity are indeed critical issues amongst many others the media fraternity needs to keep a sharp focus on like never before. In fact, it’s like flogging a story to make that impact it deserves. And that is precisely journalists from across the country made a part of their agenda at the National Executive Committee meeting of the Indian Journalists Union in Imphal.
IJU Condemns 10% Excise duty on Newsprint : The NEC meeting in Bangalore on 6-7 July 2019 strongly condemned imposition of 10 per cent of excise duty on newsprint. Moved by Geetartha Pathak it the meeting demanded that the Central Government immediately withdraw the excise duty as the decision would have negative impact on newspaper industry, particularly medium and small newspapers, which are as it is facing an onslaught by online media.
National Journalists Pension Scheme : The Indian Journalists Union urged upon the Government of India to introduce a National Working Journalists Pension Scheme at the all-India level as most of the journalists, except the elite, were ill-paid and an overworked lot. It pointed out that the working and economic condition of the journalists in semi-urban and rural areas is miserable and they were sustained by the labour of love.
The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) strongly slammed machinations of the ruling parties at the Centre and several States to curb freedom of the media by overt and covert measures. It called upon the working journalists and editors in the country to resist such attempts with all the force at their command. It also urged upon the democratic forces and intellectuals to support the cause of the free press, a cornerstone of democracy. National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Union, which met in Delhi on 18-19 August, discussed the matter in detail. In a resolution, it alleged, "ruling parties were misusing the government power to browbeat and bring to heel the newspapers and news channels perceived to be critical of their acts of omissions and commissions".
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