KARACHI, NOV 13 /DNA/ – The Executive Committee of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), at its meeting held under the chairmanship of Senator Sarmad Ali expressed its disappointment over delays by the Press Information Department (PID), Islamabad, in clearing outstanding dues, observing that the continued withholding of payments had plunged the print media into a serious financial crisis. It demanded the immediate release of all outstanding payments.
APNS members also pointed out that the newspaper registration process had become excessively slow. They proposed that the relevant rules and regulations be simplified and made more accessible through consultations with all stakeholders. The committee requested the Ministry of Information to convene meeting of the Joint Committee at the earliest.
The Executive Committee further demanded that the PID provide newspapers with complete details of payments made against their published advertisements. The members also urged the PID not to release advertisements to advertising agencies whose APNS membership had been suspended.
The Executive Committee expressed serious concern over delays in the payment of bills for May and June by the Sindh Information Department, stating that the prolonged delays had pushed newspapers into severe financial difficulties and threatened their very survival.The members also expressed grave concern over the continued neglect of the longstanding issues faced by newspapers and periodicals. They observed that the volume of advertisements being released by the Sindh Information Department had declined to an extremely low level, contrary to the agreed allocation, while APNS member publications were being systematically ignored in the distribution of government advertisements.
The Executive Committee considered applications for Associate Membership submitted by Daily Ghaznavi, Rawalpindi, and Daily Qaum, Multan, and approved associate membership of the above publications.The Committee also approved provisional accreditation for Olive Digital (Private) Limited, Karachi.
The following members attended the meeting:
Senator Sarmad Ali, President APNS; Muhammad Athar Qazi, Secretary General; Mohsin Bilal, Joint Secretary; Naveed Kashif, Finance Secretary; Mohsin Siyal (Daily Aftab); Bilal Farooqi (Daily Aghaz); Owais Razi (Weekly Azm); Fauzia Shaheen (Monthly Dastak); Najmuddin Sheikh (Daily Deyanat); Muhammad Younus Mehr (Daily Halchal); Kazi Asad Abid (Daily Ibrat); Syed Akbar Tahir (Daily Jasarat); Faisal Shahjahan (Daily Jiddat); Javed Mehr Shamsi (Daily Kaleem); Aamir Malik (Daily Mashriq, Quetta); Tahir Qureshi (Monthly Naye Ufaq); S.M. Munir Jilani (Daily Paigham); Mubashir Mir (Daily Pakistan); Humayun Gulzar (Daily Siyadat); Irfan Athar (Daily Tijarat); Muhammad Irfan (Weekly Takbeer).
The following members participated in the meeting through Zoom:
Waseem Ahmed (Daily Awam); Ansar Mahmood Bhatti (Monthly Centreline); Zahida Abbasi (Daily Nau Sijj); and Irfan (Daily Sahafat).
Dr. Jabbar Khattak (Daily Awami Awaz) attended the meeting as special observer.
