Bar in a union office
The Gauhati High Court is “dismayed” that the local journalists’ union is in possession of a liquor licence. T.NAVAJYOTI says the union has done little for the welfare of the underpaid media persons. Licences for liquor bars in press clubs are common in India. The press club, which on principle does not function as a trade union, is essentially a place for recreation for media persons. But a journalists’ union or an association, which raises its voice for the welfare of media persons, cannot pursue recreational activities and hence cannot own a liquor licence (meant for a bar in its office). But if you come to Guwahati, you may encounter a journalists’ union that has a liquor licence. The union was recently in news with reference to a high court verdict. The Gauhati High Court, in an interim order on September 18 regarding wine shops in the city expressed “dismay and astonishment that a liquor licence has been granted to the Journalist Union of Assam (JUA). Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, while passing the order, also mentioned that the JUA office, which has a bar, is approximately 110 meters from a Hindu religious place. The court, had in an order passed on July 9, directed the closure of all liquor shops and bars within a radius of 500 metres of educational institutions and religious places. “The Court, while perusing the list of 431 liquor licenses furnished by the Deputy Commissioner, found to its dismay and astonishment that a liquor licence has been granted to the Journalists’ Union of Assam in Sl. No.248 without disclosing whether it is a bar or wine shop. The location is shown as Zoo-Narengi Tiniali and is located at a distance of approximately 110 metres from a Namghar, and a sanction order was issued on 18.02.2009. Without commenting any further, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan is of the view that this certainly requires introspection on part of all concerned,” said in the order. Geetarha Pathak, president of JUA, which is affiliated to the Indian Journalists Union, was asked for his response on September 19, but it is yet to come. It is also felt that the union, which should have raised its voice for basic facilities for media persons under the Indian Labour Act, has done little in this matter. Media persons of Assam perform under tremendous work load but with low return in terms of salary and other facilities. The State has witnessed a media boom in the last decade, but the media persons continued to be victims of exploitation. Today Guwahati has more than 25 morning dailies, half of which are in Assamese language. Most dailies are published from more than one centre, and three Assamese daily newspapers claim to enjoy a circulation of around 100,000 copies. Lately, six satellite news channels have emerged from the city, adding hundred more working journalists to the team of sentinels. “It is unfortunate that media persons in Assam have to work with a salary starting with even Rs. 2,000 with absolutely no job security. More than 70 per cent newspaper employees in Assam are deprived of basic minimum facilities such as appointment letter, leave, provident fund, ESI, etc," said DN Singh, a senior journalist based in Guwahati. Speaking to this writer, National Union of Journalists office-bearer Rajendra Prabhu said that NUJ(I) did not encourage its union offices around the country to have bars. He added that he personally did not endorse any working journalist to get associated with the liquor business. Prabhu also argued that journalists should ensure that their credibility is not jeopardized. http://www.thehoot.org/web/home/story.php?sectionId=5&mod=1&pg=1&valid=true&storyid=6316 _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
