Bakhtiar khan pledges viable mechanism to smoothen payment to Media
Ansarullah Khilji lauds the Role of Regional Newspapers in KP’s Media landscape
Staff Reporter
PESHAWAR: Information Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bakhtiar Khan has said that the issue of arrears of newspapers is being resolved on a permanent basis. Not only has the arrears of one billion been settled with the departments, but after approval from the Chief Secretary, the summary is now in the Ministry of Finance and it is hoped that the payment of old arrears will start soon. He said that all arrears in terms of advertisements will be paid during the current financial year, there should be close links between the government and the media. He expressed these views while addressing a meeting of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Committee in Peshawar. The meeting was presided over by Chairman of the KP Committee of CPNE Tahir Farooq, while Director General of Information Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ansarullah Khilji was present on the occasion. The meeting was attended by members of CPNE Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Information Secretary said that the Information Department has paid Rs. 190 million to newspapers in terms of advertisements in a period of 2 months. Referring to the case filed by CPNE in the High Court, he said that the summary sent to the Chief Secretary has given a complete reference to the case and has requested the Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to provide funds so that the issue of arrears is resolved. He said that the provincial government wants a permanent system of payment of advertisements to newspapers. Such a mechanism is being devised that will oblige the departments to pay the advertisement bills within a month. He said that advertisements will be issued to all regional newspapers on a fair basis. Tahir Farooq, Chairman of the KP Committee of CPNE, said that CPNE is raising its voice at every forum for the promotion and development of regional newspapers. Regional newspapers are providing employment to a large number of workers. He demanded that the provincial government establish a revolving fund to pay the advertisement bills of newspapers, which should be used only for paying the advertisement bills.
The meeting was informed about the steps and efforts of CPNE regarding the situation of freedom of the press. Regarding the press freedom report of CPNE, the members made suggestions that the incidents happening in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should be highlighted in the report for the next year. Briefing the meeting, Tahir Farooq said that a committee comprising CPNE (KP), Press Club Peshawar and Khyber Union of Journalists would be formed, which would formulate a joint strategy to resolve all the issues. Director General Information and Public Relations Ansarullah Khilji, while speaking on the occasion, said that the importance of regional newspapers is undeniable. The Information Department will take steps for the promotion of regional newspapers. He said that giving priority to regional newspapers in advertisements is the primary responsibility of the Information Department. You said that despite digital media, the importance of newspapers cannot be lost. Newspapers should strengthen their digital platforms along with print. The provincial government will definitely cooperate with newspapers whose digital media will be active. The meeting was attended by Masood Khan (Riyast), Amjad Aziz Malik (Kasauti), Liaquat Ali Yousafzai (Sarkhab), Fazli Haq (Daily Times), Tanveer Siddiqui (Aaj), Ali Nawaz Gilani (Jamiat Sarhad), Amjad Ali (Aaj Subh), Wazirzada (Intaba), Javed Afridi (Payam Khyber), Zahir Shah Shirazi (Nawai Pakistan), Najibullah Naveen (Hiwad), Shahid Hameed (Express), Noman Sanaullah (Frontier Star), Muhammad Arshad Khan (Aden), Aamir Shahzad Jadoon (Sarhad News), Sajjad Hussain (Jihad Daily), Haroon Inayat (Awaz Subh) and others.
