Press Council shackled by constraints, says its chief

The Press Council of India is facing "constraints" which "shackle" the media watchdog, its Chairman Justice (retd) Chandramauli Kumar Prasad said today and pitched for more powers and widening of its ambit to include TV and Internet.
Prasad said the legislation by which the PCI was set up has not kept pace with developments unlike other areas and suggested various measures to improve its efficacy, like reduction in government funding and increase in funding by media stake-holders.
There are "constraints" which "shackle" the PCI and it is important to highlight some of them to provoke debate and build consensus, he said addressing an event here to mark the National Press Day where President Pranab Mukherjee presented journalism awards.

The former Supreme Court judge said in the decades since the legislation to set up PCI was enacted, the country's democracy and media have evolved significantly.
While legislation has kept pace with developments in other areas such as electoral reforms, attempts to update the Press Council Act to bring it in tune with contemporary realities have only been "academic exercises", he said.
"Media today is no longer made up of only those who put words on paper. It extends to the Internet and television. It is necessary for the society and government to recognise that the noble objectives behind setting up of the Council can never be fully realised if its activities are restricted to the print media," he said.

Prasad said the Council, as a body made up of different groups of informed stakeholders, is best placed to play such a regulatory role.

"It is vital, therefore, to underscore the importance of a holistic approach to re-energise the Council," he said.
"The need for legislative intervention to expand the scope and functions of the Council and to embellish its adjudicatory role with more powers have been highlighted more than once. However, this aspect has not received the importance it deserves," he said.
At the event, awards were given to a number of journalists and photo journalists. They included journalists Vinoy Mathew of Mathrubhumi group and Sharad Vyas of Mid Day.