The recent report, carrying names of journalists who were ‘facilitated’ by the information ministry, which is surfacing in electronic and print media has given birth to many pertinent questions.
Countless errors have been detected in the report, making the report more of a wimp. Many funds were confusedly intermingled with those disbursed to employees of various institutions as salaries, aid to widows of journalists, and amounts disbursed for media-related activities on various ceremonies.
Analysts are of the view that if closely perused, the report also cites the principal information officer claiming that Rs 1.2 million was spent on air tickets purchased for media personnel who accompanied the prime minister on his tour to Britain. However, a close investigation reveals that this 21-member entourage travelled via a chartered plane, whence ticketing was obviously not involved.
Besides, it is not clear if this Rs 1.2 million also included the expenses of boarding, lodging and food facilities in the foreign land.
ONLINE sources have disclosed that many renowned journalists, like Fariha Idrees and Nusrat Javed, who were said to have accompanied this Britain-bound entourage were never a part of the tour.