Set up wage board for journalists, CPI(M) MP asks govt

The government should immediately set up a wage board to raise the salaries of journalists and those working in the electronic media should also be brought under its purview, a Left MP said in Lok Sabha today.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, CPI(M) member A Sampath said the recommendations of the Majithia Wage Board for journalists on their pay structure were made several years ago and time has come now for setting up a new wage board.

'I request the government to constitute a new wage board for the journalists. Those who are working in the electronic media should also be brought under the purview of the Working Journalists Act of 1955,' he said in the Lok Sabha.

Under the Working Journalists Act of 1955, wages should be revised once every five years.

The demand was made yesterday also in the House by RSP member N K Premachandran who had also sought steps to ensure stringent enforcement of labour laws in the newspaper industry to check 'merciless retrenchment'.

Raising another issue, BJP MP Udit Raj demanded early implementation of the land pooling policy for the national capital, saying it will help address the problem of housing in the city.

Under the policy, the private sector would be allowed to pool land which would then be made available to the DDA for redevelopment.

The DDA will be responsible for the overall planning and redevelopment of the land in a time-bound manner while encouraging the participation of the private sector.

-PTI