ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Minister of State for Federal Education, Professional Training, Interior and Narcotics Control Muhammad Baligh-Ur-Rehman has said that safety and security of Journalists and Media Houses is the top priority of the government.
In his address at the fifth Meeting of the Ministerial Committee held at Ministry of Information, Broadcasting & National Heritage in Islamabad on Friday to address security related issues of Media Houses, Baligh-Ur-Rehman said that media is not only an important instrument for strengthening democracy but is also playing the role of watchdog in the society very effectively.
He directed the concerned Federal and Provincial authorities to further fortify the security measures of Media Houses in the light of input from Media representative bodies so that Media persons could perform their obligations without any fear and in accordance with their professional ethos. Minister of State also asked the provincial information and Home departments to learn from each other’s best practices while devising a security plan and replicate them accordingly. Minister further underlined the need to hold regular Meetings of the Provincial Security Committees to oversee the progress reports and implementation status on the decisions of Committees.
The Committee in its fifth Meeting discussed in detail the latest implementation status on the decisions of the previous Meetings of the Committee.
Besides reviewing the actions taken by the provincial Governments for the provision of the safety and security of journalists, the Committee also considered and discussed the latest situation about the security audit of Media Houses.
The Committee deliberated on various proposals and suggestions to further enhance the security of the Media persons and Houses.
The Meeting was attended by Secretary Ministry of IB&NH, DG National Crises Management Cell, Ministry of Interior, PIO-PID, DG-IP Ministry of IB&NH, Provincial Information, Home Secretaries and representatives of media organizations from PBA, APNS, CPNE, and PFUJ.
