Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 25: Jammu Newspapers Editors Association has strongly criticized the news items published in a national daily on March 23, 2014 slamming J&K Govt of violating Model Code of Conduct by releasing funds of advertisements and publicity.
In a press statement issued here today, S Ravinder Singh, president of the association termed the news item totally baseless and not based on actual facts and figures. They said that the funds released by the State Information Department are for those advertisements which were already published in the newspapers. He said that it is clearly mentioned in Para 9 Sub clause C of the Model Code of Conduct wide circular No 12 of 2014 dated 05-03-2014 “there shall be no bar to the release of payments for completed work(s) subject to the full satisfaction of the concerned official’ and Para 10 sub clause 5 that “there shall be no bar to release of funds for the completed portion of any work subjected to observance of laid down procedures and concurrence of Finance Department”.
Among others who were present in the meeting were Manu Shrivats, Aseem Sawhney, Ritesh Kapoor, Suresh Magotra, Adarsh Pal Gupta, Rajesh Dutta, Vinod Kumar Sharma, Rekha Bali, L R Sehgal, Ashok Kumar Gupta, Ravinder Mittal, Sanjeev Verma and others.
Meanwhile, Jammu Kashmir Press Association also terms the news item misleading.
In an emergency meeting held at Srinagar today under the chairmanship of its president, Ghulam Hassan Kaloo, the executive member of Jammu Kashmir Press Association deliberated upon the “Table News” published in English daily, “Hindu”, by its local correspondent which is quite misleading, concocted and a figment of imagination.
The said correspondent has tried to mislead the Election Commission of India and the J&K State officials by reporting that the J&K Information Department is releasing payments to the newspapers, both local and national dailies, on account of advertisement against the directions enunciated in the Model Code of Conduct laid down by the Election Commission of India.
The fact of the matter being that such payments pertain to the advertisements of the last year which could not be cleared by the Information Department due to paucity of funds. Hence it is a committed expenditure and does not violate the said Code of Conduct as pointed out and published in the said newspaper.
The executive members expressed satisfaction and hailed the efforts of the Principal Secretary to CM/Commissioner Secretary Information Department, B B Vyas and Tasaduq Jeelani, Director Information Department for striving hard to arrange funds for the disbursement of liabilities among the Printers/Publishers of newspapers under circulation in India in general and the State of J&K in particular.
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