Raipur (Chhattisgarh): Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in Chhattisgarh approved the Journalist Protection Act. The Chhattisgarh Cabinet approved the new law on Friday. When the new law comes into effect, several procedures will be followed before registering an FIR against a journalist.
The new law will provide a protective shield to journos from any type of harassment, intimidation, wrongful confinement and others. The new law will also help in curbing fake cases against journalists. Journos face a lot of problems when someone goes to the police station to file a case against them.
Sometimes fake cases are registered against journalists just for taking revenge against them. Scribes had been demanding the implementation of the Journalist Protection Act for long time. Congress party in its election manifesto, had supported the journalists demand. After getting Cabinet approval, the Journalist Protection Act will provide much-needed relief to journalists in the state.
Besides, the Chhattisgarh government has been contemplating setting up an authority for overseeing the registration of journalists. Within 30 days after the implementation of the new law, the government will start working on appointing authority for the registration of journalists.
An additional director belonging to the Public Relations Department will be made the secretary of the new panel. It will have two media persons as members, whose seniority will be of at least 10 years. One of the panel members will be a woman journo working in Chhattisgarh. The tenure of the members will be of two years duration. After the lapse of two years, a member has to quit the panel.
