Uttam furious at govt’s media gag bid

- Comes down heavily on TRS government for showering favours on selected media houses
- Demands government issue Accreditation and Health cards to scribes

Huzurnagar: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president N Uttam Kumar Reddy has accused the TRS government of trying to gag the media in the state.

Addressing the orientation programme organised by Telangana Union of Working Journalist (TUWJ) in association with Indian Journalist Union (IJU) for journalists of Suryapet district at Huzurnagar on Sunday, Uttam alleged that the ruling TRS dislikes the liberty of press and considers it dangerous.

Quoting Former Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Uttam said, “It is wrong to interfere in the freedom of press. By imposing restrictions, you do not change anything. You merely suppress the public manifestation of certain things, thereby causing the idea and thought underlined to spread further. I would rather have a completely free press, with all the dangers involved than a suppressed or regulated press.” Uttam further added that everyone, including journalists, need to play their role with complete honesty.

He said Telangana was a new state with its own set of good and bad things. Therefore, he called upon journalists to stand by the poorest of the poor and highlight the problems being faced by all sections of the society in a transparent and fearless manner. The TPCC chief condemned the state government for its discriminatory attitude towards several media organisations, while showering favours on a select few newspapers/channels.

He demanded that the state government immediately resolve the issues concerning journalists of Telangana State, and expressed concern over delay in issuing Accreditation Cards, especially to those working in rural areas.

Similarly, Uttam said all working and non-working journalists must be given Health Cards which should be valid in all corporate/private hospitals. He said procedures for issuing Accreditation and Health cards should be simplified to ensure that journalists get these basic facilities with total ease.

Speaking about bus passes, he said rural journalists were facing lot of problems in getting bus passes after the reorganisation of districts. Earlier Accreditated journalists used to get the facility of free travel in their district. But due to smaller districts, journalists now move across three-four districts while travelling on same route and distances. Therefore, the boundaries of old districts should be taken into account while issuing RTC bus passes, he demanded.

Uttam also demanded that the government expedite the process of issuing house sites to journalists in all 31 districts of the state. He announced that the Congress party would extend full support in resolving the issues concerning the journalists and media organisations in the State.

Earlier, addressing the programme, Kodad MLA N Padmavathi said that the media has a major role to play in transforming India as a developed nation. She said journalists might have some difficulties, but the quality of information should not be affected. Expressing concern over publication of wrong information in a section of media, she said everyone should uphold the values of journalism.

IJU Secretary General Devulapalli Amar and TUWJ leaders N Shekar, K Virahat Ali, Rajesh, Shankar and others participated in the meeting.