Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, June 5: Government has extended the term of the existing State Press Accreditation Committee (SPAC) by one year in view of the fact that no meeting of the Committee could be convened last year due to revision of the Press Accreditation Rules.
The Government today also notified the new State News Media Accreditation Policy-2017 to replace the State Press Accreditation Policy of 1997 which was presently in vogue.
Director Information is the Convener of the Committee while Deputy Director (PR) is the Member Secretary of the Committee. The term of the Committee would end on 31st March 2018.
Meanwhile, the Government today notified the revised accreditation rules rechristening these as State News Media Accreditation Rules-2017. The new rules are available on the website of the General Administration Department (GAD).
Pertinently, in view of the fast-changing media scenario in the State, the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) had formulated a new Media Accreditation Policy to replace the existing Press Accreditation Policy of 1997 which had become redundant due to vast expansion of media in Jammu and Kashmir over a period of time.
The State Press Accreditation Committee (SPAC) in its meeting convened in Jammu on December 17, 2015 had also recommended a holistic review of the Press Accreditation Rules-1997 to attune the same with the existing media scenario in the State.
The DIPR had also sought rechristening the State Press Accreditation Rules as State News Media Accreditation Rules and State Press Accreditation Committee (SPAC) as State News Media Accreditation Committee (SNMAC) to broaden its scope.