There are many strange things happening in the AP regime. Is it not an exaggeration to say that the situation is such that no officer is assigned any task and no system is known to function? In this context, a decision taken by CM YS Jagan has stoked a controversy. There are two Press Accreditation Committees, one at the district level and the other at the state level to solve the issues faced by journalists. It is known that government representatives, journalists from media firms and leaders of journalist unions are present in accreditation committees. On the contrary, in the newly formed Accreditation Committee set up by the Jagan government, not even a single journalist is to be seen. If journalist associations are unable to speak out on the issue, the situation on the ground can be understood.
It’s been over a year and a half since the YSRCP rule began in Andhra Pradesh, and already once a GO on accreditation for journalists had been issued including room for journalists belonging to TV channels and leading magazines. Apart from this, officials from various departments were also included in the committee. Shockingly! Due to unknown reasons, the committee was dissolved even without a single meeting being held. Even the orders for dissolving the committee were issued by the Jagan government under wraps. Now again a fresh announcement has been made regarding a new Journalist Accreditation Committee being set-up with all details of members listed. Interestingly, not a single journalist nor a leader from the association of journalists is to be seen.
Now, if not for journalists who are the people listed in the committee? Well, most of them are officials working in various government departments. With the Commissioner of Information and Public Relations (I&PR) continuing as the Chairman, members in the committee include – Commissioner of Labour Department, Medical Health Department AD, APSRTC MD, Housing Department PD, South Central Railway CPRVO and Directors of Information Department. However, the officers of these departments will also be members of the committees at the district level, headed by the District Collector as Chairman. The police department has also been side-lined as a member of the committee unlike in the past. However, it is unclear as to why the government hasn’t included journalists in the Journalists’ Accreditation Committees, which discuss and decide on solving the issues pertaining to journalists.
