Govt extends term of State Press Accreditation Committee

Srinagar/June,3: The Government has extended the term of the existing State Press Accreditation Committee (SPAC) by one year in view of the fact that no meeting of the Committee could be convened last year due to revision of the Press Accreditation Rules.  The Government Monday also notified the new State News Media Accreditation Policy-2017 to replace the State Press Accreditation Policy of 1997 which was presently in vogue.
The members of the SPAC, constituted vide Govt Order No: 37-ID of 2016 dated: 07-12-2016 whose term has now been extended for the year 2017-18 include Bashir Manzar, Editor Kashmir Images; Shuja-ul-Haq, Bureau Chief, India Monday TV; Taufiq Rashid, Bureau Chief, Hindustan Times;  Manish Gupta, Resident Editor, Early Times;  Vivek Sharma, Correspondent, State Times; Pradeep  Dutta, Bureau Chief, Times Now; Tariq Lone, Video Journalist, Aaj Tak; Farooq Javaid Khan, Photo Journalist, Rising Kashmir;  Rajnesh Bakshi, Video Journalist, IBN7 and Channi Anand, Photo Journalist Associated Press.
Director Information is the Convener of the Committee while Deputy Director (PR) is the Member Secretary of the Committee. The term of the Committee would end on 31st March 2018.
Meanwhile, the Government Monday notified the revised accreditation rules rechristening these as State News Media Accreditation Rules-2017. The new rules are available on the website of the General Administration Department (GAD) at http://jkgad.nic.in/common/showOrder.aspx?actCode=O17141.
Pertinently, in view of the fast-changing media scenario in the State, the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) had formulated a new Media Accreditation Policy to replace the existing Press Accreditation Policy of 1997 which had become redundant due to vast expansion of media in Jammu and Kashmir over a period of time.
The State Press Accreditation Committee (SPAC) in its meeting convened in Jammu on 17 December 2015 had also recommended a holistic review of the Press Accreditation Rules-1997 to attune the same with the existing media scenario in the State.
The DIPR had also sought rechristening the State Press Accreditation Rules as State News Media Accreditation Rules and State Press Accreditation Committee (SPAC) as State News Media Accreditation Committee (SNMAC) to broaden its scope.
During his meeting with the members of the Kashmir Editors Guild (KEG) here on Saturday, the Minister for Information, Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali had announced that the new State News Media Accreditation Rules will be notified shortly.