Government should stop harassing small newspapers: KD Chandola

KOLHAPUR: National President of Association of Small and Medium Newspapers of India, (ASMNI) Keshav Dutt Chandola has warned the government that if it does not stop harassing the small and medium newspapers facing huge problems in the country, then the government will protest across the country. This oppressive action will be strongly opposed. He said that the government is targeting small and medium newspapers. The attitude of the state governments towards small-medium newspapers is also biased.

He said that the central and state governments are equally responsible against these newspapers. This is an action to end independent journalism. Mr Chandola referred to Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru’s comment in 1934 on small newspapers that Pandit Nehru said that small newspapers are the backbone of democracy..and any kind of attack on them is like an attack on independent media. Nehru had said – Small newspapers are not only important pillars of democracy but they are the representative of impartial journalism. Nehru advocated a lot for their protection.
Mr. Chandola made these remarks at the National Council meeting held in Kolhapur,(Maharashtra) on Saturday. Mr Chandola said that due to imposition of GST on newsprint, especially small newspapers are facing huge difficulties. The association demanded a re-review of the Advertising Policy-2020 and alleged that the current advertisement policy was designed to benefit big newspapers, which directly affected small newspapers.
The association condemned CBC for reducing the advertisement share of small and medium class newspapers. Mr Chandola has cautioned DAVP to desist from ignoring the problems of small and medium class newspapers and stop encroaching on the share of advertisements.
Association’s Uttar Pradesh state unit president and Press Council of India member Shyam Singh Panwar said that every possible effort is being made to solve the problems of newspaper publishers and from their level not only the newspaper owners but also the journalists are being harassed. Taking up every matter related to the Press Council and getting it resolved. He said that due to the problems of small and medium newspapers, we need to be more organized and put pressure on the government.
Mala Bodi, who had come from Karnataka, said that the Journalist Protection Act should be implemented at this time. He said that there is a need to create awareness about filing annual returns to avoid penalty. Also raised the issue of stopping the penalty being imposed by RNI.
Raising the issue of harassment being done by the Andhra government, K. Parasuram, who came from Andhra Pradesh, said that the harassment of journalists is at its peak in the state. On the other hand, while discussing the problems of newspapers published from the state of Rajasthan, Gopal ji Gupta said that the government is giving step-motherly treatment to the small and medium class newspapers, due to which there is dissatisfaction among them. He also demanded to ensure the participation of journalists in the linguistic academy.
Maharashtra state unit president Pradeep Devidas Kulkarni said that governments should not ignore the problems of small and medium newspapers. Akram Khan of Madhya Pradesh, referring to incidents related to harassment of journalists, talked about taking appropriate steps to stop them. Association’s national vice-president Binod Mahapatra said that now no one gives rights by asking, so there is a need not to demand rights but to snatch them within the constitutional framework. He also demanded pension for the editors of small class newspapers.
Association Treasurer Ms Bhagwati Chandola, Maharashtra Unit President Pradeep Devidas Kulkarni, National Vice President Appa Saheb Patil, Association National Secretary Praveen Patil, National Council Members Chandrashekhar Gaikwad, Arun Rajaram Wadekar, Gorakh Tawde, Mukund Joshi, Netaji Meshram, Maruti, Gawdi, Samrat Sangar, Sumit Kulkarni, Dattadesh Pandey, Arun Wadekar, Maruti Navalai, Tejashwani Suryavanshi, Uttar Pradesh President Shyam Singh Panwar, Uttarakhand Unit President Atul Dixit, Gujarat State President Mayur Boricha, Gulab Singh Bhati, Raman Barot, from Rajasthan Dharmendra Soni, Gopal G Gupta, Akram Khan from Madhya Pradesh, Venu Gopal K. Nayak from Karnataka, Tariq Velkar, K. Venkata Reddy from Andhra Pradesh, Sendireddy Kondalarao, M. Kamal Kumar from Orissa, Chandra Kanta Sutar, Binod Mohapatra and many newspaper publishers were present.