Kathmandu, Oct 12: Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Jagadish Kharel, has suggested the office-bearers of the Press Council Nepal (PCN) to work making the general people feel that the Council is an empowered and autonomous body.
At a programme organised by the PCN here today, Minister Kharel urged the Council to carry out result-oriented activities at a time when the election to the House of Representatives has been scheduled and political parties have been gearing ahead their activities to that end.
The Council should be serious to take action against the unauthorized social platforms by monitoring and regulating them, he opined, pointing out the need that the state should take responsibility of media enlisted in the Press Council Nepal.
The Communications Minister emphasized that recognition that Press Council is the judiciary of the mass media should be established.
“A situation has developed where all mechanisms of the state should be concerned due to the act of abusing one another through false and misinformation, and attacks through the social media platforms,” he argued.
He suggested the Press Council Nepal to form a taskforce immediately about required human resources and equipment as well as to disseminate awareness-related messages concerning regulation of social platforms.
Stressing the need of effective monitoring for the implementation of the code of conduct at a time when the country is making preparation for election, Minister Kharel mentioned, “Press Council is an autonomous body and the Ministry does not interfere in it. The Ministry is ready to make policy level decision and provide support to it.”
Similarly, Ministry Secretary Radhika Aryal assured of providing all types of support to the Press Council Nepal.
Likewise, Council Member, Bal Krishna Adhikari, who chaired the programme, shared that the Council has been performing amidst lack of adequate technical human resources and budget.
Earlier, Chief Executive Officer of Council, Jhabindra Bhusal, briefed the Minister about overall situation of the Council and its activities.
