Team News Riveting
Raipur, March 22
The Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly on Wednesday passed the Chhattisgarh Media Person Security Bill 2023 (Chhattisgarh Media Karmi Suraksha Bill 2023) that would enact law to protect the journalists in the state.
The Congress party had vowed during the state assembly elections in 2018 to provide security cover to the journalist by enacting a law. “We have done what we had promised,” Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said after the House passed the Bill by consensus.
While discussing with the media representatives in the Vidhan Sabha premises, Baghel said: “Today is a historic day for Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha and Chhattisgarh; it is also an unforgettable day for our journalist colleagues. Because today the Chhattisgarh Media Personnel Security Bill-2023 was not only presented in the assembly but also passed.”
There had been a clear classification of journalists and writers who would come under the ambit of the Chhattisgarh Media Personnel Security Act. A six-member committee, to be formed at the state and district levels, would look into the grievances. Besides journalists, the committee would include retired bureaucrats and officials from the state’s Public Relations Department.
The Chief Minister said the committee would conduct the hearings and give the verdict that includes provision for punishment. “If not satisfied with its decision, a provision of appeal has also been made in the Act. But if someone makes a wrong complaint, then there is a provision for his or her punishment too,” Baghel added.
Chhattisgarh is the second state after Maharashtra in the country to enact a law to protect journalists. has been passed.
