Monsoon Session: Partial media access to cover Lok Sabha proceedings
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, July 19: After almost three years, the Lok Sabha will allow partial restoration of the media coverage of the proceedings. The Lok Sabha secretariat after getting slammed for the restrictions on the media coverage of the proceedings of the lower House of Parliament has allowed passes for representatives of almost two-third of the media houses empanelled.
Only one representative from a media house will be allowed to cover the proceedings of the Lok Sabha, said a source, who added that passes for the full session, week, and three days are being issued to the journalists on the basis of the official discretion.
It has also been learnt that not all the media houses will get access to the Lok Sabha, as almost two-dozen publications have still not been approved for the coverage of the proceedings of the lower House of Parliament. Incidentally, the Rajya Sabha didn’t resort to the restrictions of the media coverage of the upper House of Parliament.
But the Lok Sabha secretariat on the pretext of the Covid-19 pandemic denied access to the media persons to cover the proceedings of the lower House of Parliament, while subjectively allowing access to scribes of a few publication. It practiced lottery system to grant passes for two to three days for one representative of media houses who were left out of the “pick and choose”.
The press bodies such as the Press Club of India, Editors Guild and others had strongly protested against the denial of access to the media persons to cover the proceedings of the Lok Sabha in the name of the pandemic. Several Opposition leaders had also raised the issue of the denial of the access to the press gallery for the larger journalist community.
Sources said that the Lok Sabha secretariat would not be allowing entry for permanent pass holders, and only those who have been issued passes for the Monsoon session will get to access the press gallery. Also, only one scribe from a media house is being given the pass. Before the pandemic, mainstream media houses used to get three and more passes to cover the proceedings of the Lok Sabha, and journalists were deputed in shifts to keep a close tab on the happening in the House.
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