The District Administration in Ramban has issued an order seeking the credentials of journalists working in the district, which has drawn widespread criticism from Journalists in Ramban and other parts of Jammu Kashmir.
Office of the District Information Officer Ramban has issued an order stating that all media persons working in district Ramban with different news organizations are hereby informed that the undersigned is directed to conduct verification of aIl portal-based news channels operating “without registration” in district Ramban and credentials of all the journalists from their concerned news organizations.
“In this connection, you are requested to submit the required documents along with detail as specified in the below-mentioned table to this office within 7 days positively so that the undersigned will submit the same to the District Magistrate, Ramban for further necessary action,” the order read.
The details that have been sought are as follows:
1) Name of the Journalist
2) Parentage
3) Complete residential address
4) Mobile number/numbers
5) Qualification along with attested copy of qualification certificate.
6) Name of news channel
7) Copy of the authority letter and identity card issued by the news channel/web-based portal in his/her favour.
8) whether the news channel/web based portal is registered under the extent laws? If yes, copy of the registration certificate, along with contact number if prop/Editor in Chief of the news channel/web-based portal.
9) In case the journalist is affiliated with registered news channel/web-based portal, the remuneration/salary drown by him/her along with complete details.
10) other source of income to be detailed by the journalist.
The move is being widely criticized by the Journalists all over the valley. A Senior TV Journalist speaking to The Kashmiriyat on the condition of anonymity said that the journalists who had earlier demanded the verification process to be initiated are themselves left in a shock and are opposing it vocally now.
“The Journalists assumed that they would get banned all the emerging media personnel, who have gained a name among people for the work they do, as most journalists have been become PR agencies. But since, all of them have been asked to provide the details including their degrees and authorization letters, they are left in a dilemma,” the Jammu based journalist said.
He said that the single-point motive behind the move is to have a single-frame to every story and to have a check over what makes it to the news.
A young Journalist, who has recently joined a Kashmir-based- news organization believes that the move is aimed at silencing down the new organizations (very few in number) who raise the issues of public. “Most of the news outlets in Kashmir report only what they are asked to and earn good sums for it. They abhor the emergence of new people and want to have their monopoly in Kashmir’s news sphere. It is unfortunate that certain senior media personnel are in favour of this move,” he said, wishing to be not named.
A senior Journalist from the Ramban district said that considering the centralized pattern of media in Jammu Kashmir, most of the journalists report from Srinagar and Jammu and the news organizations hardly feel any need to hire reporters in the smaller towns or districts. “We mostly freelance our work and are paid on commission basis. We are not on the organizational rolls, but we have been working with them for decades now,” a senior Journalist said.
Mohammad Taskeen, a popular radio journalist-commentator and President of the Journalists Association, Ramban was quoted by a News 18 report as saying, said his body has given particulars to the Information office on three occasions and those were forwarded to the Directorate of Information that caters to journalistic welfare across Jammu Kashmir. “Why are we being asked to share personal details. Our recruiting organisations have those. They recruited us because they found we posses requisite qualifications, skills and capabilities,’’ he said, adding, “We are not government employees.”