APNS condemns govt depts, AGPR for not clearing outstanding dues | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

APNS condemns govt depts, AGPR for not clearing outstanding dues

KARACHI: The Executive Committee of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society at its meeting held on June 29, 2011 at Islamabad, chaired by the Acting President Mehtab Khan, adopted the following resolution: The Executive Committee of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society condemns the delaying tactics on part of various government departments and functionaries, including the Accountant General of Pakistan Revenue (AGPR), to sabotage the decision of the prime minister to pay off the long outstanding dues of advertising agencies.

The APNS stated that for the last three years, the prime minister has been sanctioning special grants to settle the payments of its accredited advertising agencies for ads released in the print media during July 01, 2000 to June 30, 2008 and every time, these funds lapsed due to bureaucratic hurdles created by the AGPR. The APNS was of the opinion that the AGPR was deliberately attempting to damage the government- press relations. The Executive Committee of the APNS called upon the prime minister to personally intervene and avert the looming crisis that the newspaper and advertising industry will be facing due to non-payment of these dues.

The Executive Committee noted that the payment of these dues met the criteria set by the APNS and the Ministry of Information. The APNS reiterated that it has never insisted payment of non-genuine bills. The dues in question are based on invoices duly approved and verified by the PID.

The Executive Committee also discussed problems faced by regional publications of the Punjab, periodicals and the issues relating to Balochistan based member publications. The committee was apprised that the Government of the Punjab has curtailed its advertisements to majority of smaller publications and the ads are being released to publications on political and personal whims of the releasing authorities. The committee was informed that the quantum of ads to Faisalabad publications has been further reduced. The committee urged upon the Punjab government to address the issues of smaller and regional publications.

The meeting was attended by the following: Mehtab Khan, Acting President, Umer Mujib Shami, Vice President, Sarmad Ali, Secretary General, Rameeza Majid Nizami, Joint Secretary, Mumtaz A. Tahir (D/Aftab), Waseem Ahmed (D/Awam, Quetta), Ghulam Akbar (D/Al Akhbar), Arshad Zuberi (D/Business Recorder), Abdul Rashid Ghazi (D/Business Report), Syed Faseih Iqbal (D/Balochistan Times), Ms.Fauzia Shaheen (M/Dastak), Tahir Owais (D/Dawn), Najamuddin Sheikh (D/Deyanat), Mukhtar Aqil (D/Jurat, Khi), Imtinan Shahid (D/Khabrain), Mushtaq A. Qureshi (M/Naey Ufaq), Sardar Khan Niazi (M/Naya Rukh), Rukhsana Saulat Saleemi (W/Nikhar), Gohar Zahid Malik (Pakistan Observer). Ilyas Shakir (D/Qaumi Akhbar), Dr. Waqar Yousuf Azeemi (M/Roohani Digest), Riaz Mansuri (M/The Cricketer), Irfan Ather (D/Tijarat), Pir Sufaid Shah Hamdard (D/Wahdat), Sharif Farooq (D/Jihad) and Younus Riaz (D/Beopar).

Humayon Gulzar (D/Sayadat) and Imran Ather (D/Tijarat) attended as special observers.

Source: The News

Date:6/30/2011