The task force formed to amend the Working Journalist Act 2051 presented a draft proposal to the government on Sunday.The proposal states that employers should hire journalists only through free competition and have to give them appointment letters.Coordinator of the task force, Kashiraj Dahal, presented the proposal.It has secured the rights of journalists to get organised according to the Trade Union Act.
"We urge the government to amend the Act based on the proposal as it was drafted after holding a series of discussions and interactions," Dahal said in the proposal.Once the Act is amended, all employers will have to send detailed information of their employees to a Press Registrar, who will keep an updated record of working journalists and will also monitor the employees.The registrar will have rights to fine as much as Rs 25,000 to any media organisation, which violates the act.
The registrar can also take action against the media organisations that violate the act by not providing them press passes, not including them in press classification, prohibiting government grant or advertisement, excluding journalists working in such organisations from foreign trips and preventing such organisations from importing communication equipment.
Each media organisation can frame its own bylaws on services and terms for working journalists, but they should not be in violation of the act.
No comments:
Post a Comment