Members of Jharkhand Journalists’ association have raised five major demands before the State Government, which includes pension scheme along the line of Karnataka, Bihar, Kerala and AP, formation of law for the protection of journalists, housing provisions, accreditation of regional scribes and investigation of any case related to violence against journalists by the State Government in the lines of Bihar and Chhattisgarh before lodging of FIR. Members of the journalists’ association held a conference on the occasion of May Day. As many as 700 journalist members from across the state participated in the programme.
State head of Jharkhand Journalists’ Association, Shahnawaz Hassan, said, “We need to put all the demands forward, as just holding a meeting in a year will not fulfil the demands meant for the protection of journalists. So far various associations have been formed but none of them have take any constructive measures to bring change.
However, for the first time, 700 journalists have gathered and it is worth appreciating.”
Appreciating the role of state association and presence of journalists in the state capital from all the 24 districts to attend the conference, K Vikram Rao, president, Indian Federation of working Journalists (IFWJ), informed, “After the formation of IFWJ in 1950, large number of journalists participated in a programme for the first time and now after a gap of five decades, the participation of journalists in a programme is worth appreciating.”
On the occasion, official website of the association was launched as well the official logo of the association was unveiled by K Vikram Rao. Constraints, challenges and other facets were discussed in the technical session, where the participants got opportunity to directly interact with the association chairperson sharing their experience and highlighting few core issues.