APNS dismayed by Senate resolution on Wage Award
KARACHI, February 25,2005:The APNS expressed its dismay on Thursday over the Senate resolution on Wage Board, a matter subjudice in courts, and rejected the linkage of government advertisements with the implementation of Wage Board Award.
A meeting of the Executive Committee of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society held at Karachi under the chairmanship of its President, Mr. Arif Nizami in a resolution noted the position adopted by legislators in the Senate for supporting a resolution advocating the implementation of the 7th Wage Board Award, a matter subjudice in the Supreme Court and Sindh High Court.
The resolution noted that the parties involved should have refrained from commenting on the matter.The committee observed that there are no two opinions on the fact that while undertaking any legislation or resolution in the Parliament, the legislators must consult the concerned parties of issue. The implementation of Wage Board was made a subject of the resolution without taking into consideration the point of view of publishers.
“Our history witnesses that hastily adopted enactments and decision have always been disastrous to the society, country and political system” observed the committee.
The Executive Committee in another resolution strongly rejected the proposal to link government advertisements with the implementation of Wage Board Award being initiated by the information ministry in the garb of centralization of government advertisement policy.
The resolution noted that government advertisements were issued from the public exchequer and caters to the requirements of the advertisers and hence these advertisements should not be made a subject on the whims and wishes of the information ministry.
It also noted that the implementation of the Wage Board Award does not come under the purview of the Information Ministry as there was a separate statutory body, the chairman of which is facing contempt proceedings in the SHC on his biased actions against newspaper managements. “The intervention of the Information Ministry will be violative of the statutory authority of the ITNE, and thus would be ultra vires”, stated the APNS resolution.
The EC decided to form a Commission of Enquiry under a prominent independent judicial personality with respect to the activities of ministers, government officials, politicians and PROs of corporations to slush the print media for coverage in newspapers. The reports of the Commission would be published in national and international media.
The committee was briefed on the harsh and inappropriate action of the NWFP Chief Minister, Akram Durrani towards newspapers based in Peshawar.
The meeting was attended by Arif Nizami, President, Syed Faseih Iqbal, Sr Vice President, Muhammad Aslam Kazi, Secretary General, Mushtaq Ahmed Qureshi, Joint Secretary, Waqar Yousuf Azeemi, Finance Secretary, Mr Arshad A. Zuberi, Masood Hamid, Kazi Asad Abid, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, Zia Shahid. Hameed Haroon, Maqsood H Shah and Syed Sarmad Ali attended on special request.
Source: The News
Date:2/25/2005
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