APNS assails AGPR, seeks payment of ad bills
ISLAMABAD: The All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) strongly condemned the anti-press behaviour of the Accountant General Pakistan Revenue (AGPR) who is consistently denying the sanctions of payment against advertisement bills issued by various government departments including the bills against current advertising. It appears that he is deliberately bent upon destroying the government-press relations.
The Executive Committee of APNS at its meeting here chaired by its president, Sarmad Ali noted with concern that the federal government had not fulfilled its commitment of payment of the dues against advertising released by Ministry of Information, Federal Board of Revenue, devolved ministries, etc.
Non-payment of dues has affected the newspaper economies badly and many of newspapers are at the verge of collapse which may result into mass unemployment due to closure of many smaller and medium sized newspapers.
APNS requested Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Minister forInformation Pervaiz Rashid to take cognisance of the pressing demands of the newspaper industry and give the industry a bailout package comprising payments of long outstanding dues, enhancement in government advertisement rates, increase in quantum of ads to newspapers and rationalisation of government advertising to regional as well as Metro-B newspapers.
The Executive Committee was informed that the prime minister had been invited as chief guest at the APNS Awards Ceremony in the third week of March whereas the president of Pakistan had kindly consented to inaugurate the APNS House at Karachi in early March.
The Executive Committee also considered recommendation of its Scrutiny Committee and granted full membership to Daily Abtak Lahore, Daily Balochistan News Quetta, Daily City42 Lahore, Daily Hilal-e-Pakistan Karachi, Daily Jinnah Islamabad, Daily K-2 Gilgit, Daily Nau Sijj Karachi, Daily Qaumi Awaz Multan, Daily Soorat-e-Hall Faisalabad and Daily Today’s Muslim, Peshawar.
The meeting offered Fateha on the sad demise of Arshad Majid Anami, Chief Editor, Daily Commercial News, Faisalabad.
The meeting was attended by Sarmad Ali, president, Dr Jabbar Khattak, senior vice president, Masood Hamid, secretary general, Syed Muhammad Munir Jilani, joint secretary, Waseem Ahmed, finance secretary, Mumtaz A Tahir (D/Aftab), Mehtab Khan (D/Ausaf), Rahmat Ali Raazi (W/AZM), Syed Faseih Iqbal (D/Balochistan Times), Arshad A. Zuberi (D/Business Recorder), Humayon Tariq (D/Business Report), Fauzia Shaheen (M/Dastak), Aijaz-ul-Haq (D/Express), Javed Mehr Shamsi (D/Kaleem), Aslam Leghari (D/Kawish, Hyd), Aamer Mahmood (M/Kiran), Syed Ayaz Badshah (D/Mashriq, Peshawar), Mushtaq A Qureshi (M/Naey Ufaq), Muhammad Mushtaq Gurmani (D/Nawa-i-Waqt), Sardar Khan Niazi (M/Naya Rukh), Umar Mujib Shami (D/Pakistan, Lhr), Gohar Zahid Malik (D/Pakistan Observer), Ilyas Shakir (D/Qaumi Akhbar), Khushnood Ali Khan (D/Sahafat), Humayun Gulzar (D/Sayadat, Bahawalpur), Riaz Ahmed Mansuri (M/The Cricketer), Jamil Ather (D/Tijarat, Lhr) and Pir Sufaid Shah Hamdard (D/Wahdat, Pew).
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