The Press Club of India (PCI) on August 1 sought an appointment with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar to discuss issues of journalists and photojournalists regarding parliamentary access.
The Club had earlier issued a letter on July 2, demanding unrestricted media entry to the Lok Sabha Press Gallery and Parliament House. In a fresh letter, it said: “…we are now approaching you with the request to grant time to a delegation of Press Club of India for presenting our case for restoring full access like it was in pre COVID-19 period to all accredited journalists and photojournalists.”
“As you must be aware restrictions were imposed on the media in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020 Budget session. The permanent passes of journalists and Long & Distinguished (L&D) category passes were cancelled. With the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaring the end of the pandemic on May 5, 2023, we expected that full access to journalists and photojournalists would be restored. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case,” it said, seeking time for the meetings.
On July 29, Mr. Birla had met mediapersons covering parliamentary proceedings and assured them that all issues related to movement restrictions on them and coverage would be resolved, soon after they staged a silent protest on the Parliament premises. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had also raised the issue in his speech during the Budget discussion.
Mr. Gandhi, Trinamool Congress’ Rajya Sabha Parliamentary Party leader Derek O’Brien, Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, and Congress’ Lok Sabha MP Karti Chidambaram also met the journalists at an enclosure where they were holding the protest.
In a recent Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting, Congress Deputy Leader Gaurav Gogoi had also demanded post-Covid review and access for all mediapersons.
