Proceedings to set up 10th Wage Board for Journalists soon: Information Minister in Parliament

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Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapan said that six writs or civil petitions related to the implementation of the Ninth Newspaper Wage Board are currently underway and the process of forming the tenth Wage Board will be started soon.

The Information and Broadcasting Minister said this in response to a question from Sheikh Manjurul Haque Rahad, a member of parliament of the opposition party in the National Parliament on Sunday. The question and answer table was raised at the beginning of the session presided over by Deputy Speaker Qaiser Kamal.

The information minister said that on September 12, 2019, the ninth newspaper wage board has been published in Rowedad Bangladesh Gazette. The 9th Newspaper Wage Board did not come into effect due to disagreements over payment of income tax by journalists and newspaper owners. At present, six writs or civil petitions are pending regarding the implementation of the Ninth Newspaper Wage Board.

Highlighting the latest status of the cases, the information minister said that the process of forming the 10th Wage Board will be started soon.

In response to the question of Abdul Alim, the member of parliament of the opposition party, the information minister said that in the era of free flow of information, the Bangladesh Press Council has taken a plan to create an online database along with determining the educational qualifications of journalists to improve the quality of journalism, ensure the dignity of real journalists and prevent fake journalism.

In response to a question from opposition member of Parliament Nurul Islam, Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapan said that measures have been taken to build a journalist protection support cell, legal and technical referrals in cases of threats, attacks and digital harassment, special support for women journalists, digital security training, emergency welfare support, district-level journalist protection initiatives and integrated support structures with related organizations in order to protect, enable, support, dignify and create a safe professional environment for journalists.

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In response to the question of Mohammad Ali Asgar, a member of the government party, Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapan said that the process of revising the Press Council Act of 1974 to transform the Press Council into a stronger, more effective media-friendly institution is ongoing.

The Information Minister also said that through the Journalist Welfare Trust, programs are underway to provide facilities to journalists who are unable or unable to do professional work, physically or mentally ill and unable to meet medical expenses and in recognition of their special contribution to journalism. Till March 2015-2026 fiscal year, a total of 1 thousand 110 sick, indigent and accident injured journalists and families of deceased journalists have been given financial donations. Besides, other supporting activities of the Trust are also continuing. 73 lakh 26 thousand taka scholarships have been given to meritorious children of 402 journalist families. It should be noted that in the month of Ramadan 2026, two thousand families of journalists have been given Iftar and Eid gifts worth Tk 1 crore 12 lakh 34 thousand.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapan said in response to the question of Jalal Uddin, a member of parliament of the government party, that there are currently four government-owned TV channels in the country. 55 private TV channels have been approved but 37 private TV channels are in full broadcasting. No new TV channels are pending approval. Necessary action will be taken as per the rules in case of settlement of application for approval of any new TV channel in future.

In response to the question of Shahjahan Chowdhury, Member of Parliament of the opposition party, Industry Minister Khandkar Abdul Muktadir said that it is not possible to supply gas to all urea fertilizer factories in the context of various wars going on in the world. At present only Ghorashal-Palash Fertilizers Public Limited Company is in production. As a result, to deal with the production shortfall, an initiative has been taken to import an additional 2 lakh metric tons from the Saudi Arabian company Sabic, an additional 1 lakh metric tons from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and 4 lakh metric tons of urea fertilizer through the international quotation system under the GTUG agreement.

The Minister of Industry said, in view of the assurance of the Ministry of Energy, it will be possible to start the fertilizer factory if gas supply is available to Shahjalal Fertilizer Company Limited from May 1. Initiatives have been taken to procure fuel and raw materials used in industries through JTUG system or through tenders. Apart from this, in order to keep the supply of raw materials like Rock Phosphate, Phosphoric Acid and Sulfur used in the production of TSP Fertilizer Factory and DAP Fertilizer Factory normal, along with the tender, the initiative has been taken to import from the producing countries like Morocco, Jordan, Oman, UAE, China and Malaysia through GTUG agreement.