NEW DELHI: The Press Club of India wrote to Om Birla and Jagdeep Dhankar seeking meeting with Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha speaker Jagdeep Dhankar to discuss “full access to all accredited journalists and photojournalists” to Parliament like pre-Covid era.
The letter followed a previous demand by the Press Club which asked for “unrestricted media entry to Lok Sabha Press gallery and Parliament House”.
“As you must be aware that restrictions were imposed on the media (journalists and photojournalists) in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic during the 2020 budget session. The permanent passes of journalists and Long & Distinguished category passes were cancelled. With the World Health Organisations 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,” the letter said.
The letter followed a previous demand by the Press Club which asked for “unrestricted media entry to Lok Sabha Press gallery and Parliament House”.
“As you must be aware that restrictions were imposed on the media (journalists and photojournalists) in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic during the 2020 budget session. The permanent passes of journalists and Long & Distinguished category passes were cancelled. With the World Health Organisations 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,” the letter said.
‘Free media fromcage’
The issue gained attention even more after leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi made the rhetoric in Parliament monsoon session to free media from the “cage”
During the Business Advisory Committee meeting, sources reported that Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, criticized the current approach of restricting media coverage in Parliament Houses. Gogoi reportedly called for the removal of post-Covid restrictions on journalists’ access to Parliament proceedings, which he implied by referring to the limited issuance of passes to media outlets.