Info ministry holds meeting with stakeholders on media employees act

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry on Sunday held a meeting with journalist bodies and other stakeholders on the draft of proposed 'Mass Media Employees (Conditions of Service) Act'.

The ministry organized the meeting as per its fresh initiative to take opinions of the stakeholders to ensure in the new law all the rights the media workers deserve.

State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat presided over the meeting at the ministry’s conference room in the Bangladesh Secretariat, said a press release.

Speaking at the meeting, he said the proposed media employees act will ensure all types of protections that the journalists deserve under the labor law.

It will be examined whether the proposed law covers cent percent the benefits that media employees are supposed to get under the labor law, Arafat added.

Assuring that there will have no loophole in the proposed law over the protection of media workers’ rights under the labor law, he said, if any error is noticed in this regard while reviewing the draft, it will be corrected.

Noting that ensuring the welfare of media workers is very important to create a congenial environment for journalism and media, the state minister said his ministry has taken the initiative to review the draft of the 'Mass Media Employees (Conditions of Service) Act' to for this.

Arafat expressed the hope that the media employees act would be passed in parliament with the all-out cooperation from all stakeholders.

He called upon the journalist bodies and other stakeholders to give their opinions in written form on the draft of the media employees act.

Senior Secretary of Information and Broadcasting Ministry Md Humayun Kabir Khandaker, Additional Secretary Dr Mohammad Altaf-Ul-Alam and Joint Secretary Md Asaduzzaman, Association of Television Channel Owners (ATCO) Vice President Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, BFUJ-Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists’ former President Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul, Editors Guild President Mozammel Babu, Jatiya Press Club (JPC) Managing Committee Member Farid Hossain, Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) General Secretary Akhter Hossain, Dhaka Reporters’ Unity (DRU) President Syed Shukur Ali Shuvo, Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF) President Mohammad Refayet Ullah Mirdha, Bangladesh Sangbadpatra Karmachari Federation’s Secretary General Md Khairul Islam, Jatiya Sangbadpatra Parishad President Md Noor Hakim and Bangladesh Anchalik Sangbadpatra Parishad President Jahangir Hossain Manju joined the meeting, among others.