Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Provincial Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) is fully aware of the challenges being faced by the print and electronic media industry and for the resolution of these all the necessary steps will be taken.
This was said by the Provincial Secretary Information Arshad Khan during a meeting with the representatives of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE)— Vice President (KP) Tahir Farooq and Vice President (Islamabad) Yahya Khan Sadozai—who called on him at the KP House in the federal capital.
We have decided to allocate funds for payment of the pending dues to the media as early as possible, said the newly appointed Provincial Secretary Information. The provincial secretary said the KP government believed in freedom of expression and independence of media and fully understood its role for social development and economic stability.
We want to work with you and seek your guidance in issues such as public welfare, good governance and efficiency of the government officials.
After Legislature, Judiciary and Executive, it is Media that is considered the fourth pillar of the state and Chief Minister of KP, Ali Amin Gandapur has expressed this on a number of occasions. We are keen to work with media and for that we shall welcome your proposals, he further said.
About the allocation of funds, he said on the directions of the Chief Minister of the province, funds worth Rs1 billion have been allocated to launch an organized advertisement campaign. He assured the media owners that payments under that campaign would be made on a standard criteria i.e. 15/85 and there would be no room for favouritism.
However, he made it clear that in the payments to the media houses, government tax as per law would be charged. Other than the government tax, nothing would be charged from any government department or entity, he said. He urged the media houses not to come under any pressure or face any blackmailing from any side as it is the Information Ministry alone that is entitled to issue advertisements or release funds.
Arshad Khan further said that the funds allocated for the media industry would be used not only to highlight the performance of the KP government they would also help address the financial issues of the media industry. The vice presidents of the CPNE expressed their gratitude to the Secretary information and assured him of their full support and cooperation.
