Two day long national executive meet of National Union of Journalists (India) kick started on a positive note in Rishikesh with a pledge to focus on one constructive news daily along with other happenings. The journalists appealed against sensationalisation of negative news. The meet is being attended by over 70 journalists from across the nation. Presiding over the inaugural ceremony, speaker of Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha and local MLA, Premchand Agarwal said the media persons must remember that their role is as important as the other three pillars of democracy in building the nation.
Agarwal said that a democratic nation could not be imagined without a free press but the electronic and social media especially must be cautious while propagating any negative message to the people as it could harm the image of the nation drastically.
Speaking on the occasion, head of Parmarth Niketan, Chidanand Saraswati said, “Earlier people use to wake up with a prayer on their lips but these days, mobile and newspaper is the first thing they lay their hands on. So the media had a crucial role to play in the building of the society.”
He, further, said that with the beginning of the cleanliness fortnight on the call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it was also a beginning for a call to clean and boost positivity in the media through the platform of National Union of Journalists (India).
He exhorted the journalists to not only make a balance sheet of the daily news but also of the ‘self’ so that a positive environment was built in the society. He said one must have tongue management, time management and thought management by its people for a healthier nation.
The office bearers of the NUJ (I) appealed to speaker of legislative assembly for a respectable pension for journalists who were above 60 years of age as was being practiced by the State of Haryana.
The president of NUJ(I) Ashok Mallik and general secretary Manoj Verma put forth proposals demanding formation of Media Commission, implementation of Majithia wage board recommendations and insurance policy for journalists from the Government. The programme was convened by State president of the union Brijendra Harsh.