The NA Standing Committee on Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage met in the Parliament House on Thursday under the chairmanship of MNA Pir Muhammad Aslam Bodla.
The Committee discussed ‘The Protection of Journalists Bill, 2014’ and deferred the bill along with direction to the Information and Broadcasting Division to complete all constitutional and legal requirements, in consultation with Ministry of Law and Justice, media organizations and all other stakeholders without further delay as the legislation had already been delayed. The committee was of the view that media persons and their families were vulnerable, therefore, measures from the state were imperative for their safety and welfare.
The committee further directed that the final draft bill regarding the implementation of the law, up to the extent of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), after the consultation with Ministry of Law and Justice be presented in its next meeting, positively.
The committee deferred ‘The PEMRA (Amendment) Bill, 2017’ till its next meeting, due to the non-availability of mover of the bill. The committee chairman asked the members to give valuable input.
The committee was briefed about the performance and financial state of Shalimar Recording and Broadcasting Company Limited (SRBC). The committee was satisfied with performance of SRBC and its financial state. The committee deferred the briefing on agreement between SRBC and Sports Star International (SSI) regarding ATV channel for its next meeting.
The meeting was attended by MNAs; Malik Shakir Bashir Awan, Mian Muhammad Farooq, Tahir Iqbal Ch, Ms Parveen Masood Bhatti, Ms Zeb Jaffar, Ch Muhammad Tufail, Syed Amir Ali Shah Jamote, Ms Belum Hasnain, Dr Muhammad Azhar Jadoon, Ms Saman Sultana Jaffri, Ms Naeema Kishwer Khan, Information and Broadcasting Division secretary and heads of the concerned departments.