MoCIT seeks submissions on future policies, programmes and budget

KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MoCIT) held a programme on Wednesday to gather suggestions from relevant sectors. These suggestions will be considered for the upcoming policies and programmes, and budget.

Journalists, intellectuals, and representatives from journalism-related organisations attended the programme.

During the meeting, Rekha Sharma, Minister for Communication and Information Technology, emphasised the significant role of mass communication in shaping societal perceptions. She stated that these sentiments need to be addressed in the policies, programmes, and budget. She encouraged participants to submit their suggestions in writing as well. Minister Sharma highlighted that these suggestions are crucial for developing an effective mass communications policy.

Minister Sharma also stressed the need to update the advertisement policies, acts, and regulations related to State-owned media to meet current needs. She mentioned that media classifications and inclusion issues are of concern to the Ministry.

Bipul Pokhrel, the President of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), urged the MoCIT to allocate a fixed amount for health insurance for media persons in the budget. He also suggested a limited discount on medical care for journalists, distribution of proportional advertisement, and training and career enhancement for journalists.

Dharmendra Jha, Executive Chair of Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS), called for broader discussions on issues raised by mass media. He suggested that the MoCIT should strengthen the news agency both resourcefully and technically so that it can diversify its services linguistically and operate round-the-clock. He added that an inclusive newsroom and service are among the priorities of the RSS.

Former Chairs of FNJ, Kishor Nepal, Shiva Gaunle, and Mahendra Bista, advised the Ministry to make the Mass Communications Academy policy compatible with the times and to invest in the physical enhancement of FNJ.

Ganesh Basnet, Chair of Press Chautari Nepal, and Nakul Aryal, Vice President of Nepal Press Union, emphasised the need for liberal and effective public advertisement allocation and monitoring of the effectiveness of mass communications, respectively.

Bishwamani Subedi, Chair of Socialist Press Association Nepal, stressed the need to target public welfare advertisements to the right groups.

Nirmala Sharma, former President of Sancharika Samuha, and others called for the promotion of inclusion issues in the mass communications policy and for the policies and programmes to be friendly towards women journalists.

By RSS