Scribes stage nation-wide protest for wageboards notification

NEW DELHI: Employees of newspapers and news agencies today held nation-wide protest dharnas against the Centre's "failure" to notify the recommendations of wageboard for journalists and non-journalists.

In the national capital, hundreds of media persons staged sit-in in front of the Congress headquarter demanding that the Congress-led UPA government should notify the Majithia wage board recommendations without any further delay.

Similar demonstrations were organised in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Patna, Lucknow, Jaipur, Hyderabad and other state capitals.

The agitation was organised by Confederation of Newspaper and News Agency Employees'Organisations ( CNNAEO) comprising of Federation of PTI Employees Union, UNI Workers Union leading national bodies--AINEF, NUJI, IJU and IFWJ.

The protesters dispersed only after Congress General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi assured the CNNAEO delegation that he would convey the demand of journalists and non-journalists of newspapers and news agencies for early notification of the wage boards report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

Addressing the protesters, CNNAEO Convenor M S Yadav criticised the "dilly-dallying" attitude of the government on wage revision for journalists and non-journalists under "influence" of the media house owners.

Yadav warned if the government failed to notify the wage boards report soon, the Confederation would give a call for nation-wide strike of newspaper and news agency employees.

He also charged the opposition BJP with paying only a "lip service" to the cause of media persons and threatened to launch agitation against that party too.

Yadav and other CNNAEO leaders wondered why Manmohan Singh Cabinet was not notifying the wage boards recommendations despite the Supreme Court saying it can always consider the issue.