Editors Guild of India seeks ‘complete access’ to Parliament for journalists

The Editors Guild of India on Monday urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar to remove the Covid-era restrictions on journalists that impede their ability to cover proceedings in Parliament.

In separate letters to Birla and Dhankhar, the guild noted that the practice of limiting the number of journalists with access to both Houses, including those with permanent accreditation, came into force when Covid-19 protocols were put in place.

“The country has fought the scourge and moved on and we hope limiting access is also done away with,” the letter said.

The guild said that although 1,000 journalists from both print and electronic media were accredited to cover the proceedings of both Houses, “only a fraction of them are provided access”.

The letters note that the decision to provide “unfettered access to journalists” has been in practice since the first Parliament session in 1952.

“The objective was to keep the people abreast with the work of their representatives, developments inside the House and dynamics outside, through media, which is vital in a parliamentary democracy,” the guild said.

The guild also expressed concern over the lack of a Press Advisory Committee in the last few years.

The Press Advisory Committee, constituted by the speaker of the Lok Sabha, comprises 25...

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