Government announces formation of 8th Wage Board

• State minister says summary has been sent to prime minister

ISLAMABAD: State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Monday announced the constitution of 8th Wage Board after 18 years and a summary in this regard had been sent to the prime minister so a necessary notification would be issued after approval from the cabinet during its next meeting.

Talking to the media at the National Press Club here, she revealed that the wage board would comprise a chairman and representatives of the media organisations and owners of the media houses. Representatives of the National Press Club, PFUJ and other media organisations were also with the state minister while she made this announcement. Marriyum said that PFUJ and media groups had fully cooperated in the process of consultations. She said that the announcement of the Wage Board Award was not a ritual but a practical step.

She said that a delegation of journalists headed by PFUJ president visited her office about 10 days ago and discussed the issue of the Wage Board Award. She said that she was announcing the award after eighteen years with the cooperation of the media. She said that former information minister Senator Pervaiz Rashid had also made strenuous efforts for the eighth wage award and he wanted to accomplish the task assigned to him by the former prime minister as soon as possible.

Marriyum said that a committee had also been formed for drafting laws for the electronic media and after completion of the consultative process the bill would be presented in the parliament for discussion. She said that the former prime minister and Shahid Khaqan Abbassi both had a vision for according due status to the journalists. She said that the role played by media for strengthening democracy and war against terrorism was commendable. She said that the PFUJ, media bodies and associations had always fought for the rights of the journalists’ community at all forums. She said that the representative of the media organisations kept on changing which was the beauty of democracy. She said that Nawaz Sharif was waging a war for the sanctity of vote for the sake of democracy.