ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting on Monday was given a briefing on draft legislation pertaining to attached departments of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting including Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), Pakistan Information Department (PID), Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC), Associate Press of Pakistan and other related acts.
While briefing the panel, Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Shahera Shahid apprised that there were seven bills which were under consideration and the ministry will put forward the same to Cabinet Committee for Disposal of Legislative Cases (CCLC) after making amendments.
She said that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has been directed by the Islamabad High Court to consult all the stakeholders before making the amendments.
She was of the view that the ministry was carrying out continuous engagements with the pertinent stakeholders, as directed by the IHC.
She said that the ministry was also working on the protection of the journalists’ draft bill and consultation was going on with the stakeholders in this regard.
The Secretary of Information mentioned that the cases pertaining to the protection of journalists and media professionals had been transferred from Human Rights Division to the Information Division, which has now transferred them to the Parliamentary Affairs Division.
The panel expressed dissatisfaction over the briefing given by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting regarding draft legislation.
The committee meeting chaired by Javaria Zafar Aheer, MNA directed that Minister for Information and Broadcasting should brief the committee on these amendments in its next meeting.
The representative from the Islamabad Capital Territory Police briefed the committee on the progress of the cases pertaining to the protection of journalists and media professionals. He informed that the directions have been given to the patrolling officials of the ICT Police for the security of the media houses as well as the residences of the media professionals.
He also informed that as per directions of the court, only one FIR will be registered in one case. The committee directed that Minister for Interior may brief the committee regarding measures taken by the ministry for the protection of journalists in the next meeting.
Later, the panel deferred the Private Member’s Bill titled “The Indecent Advertisement Prohibition (Amendment) Bill, 2022” (moved by Muhammad Jamal-ud-Din, MNA) along with other legislative business and decided to consider the same in the next meeting.
The meeting was attended by MNAs Kiran Imran Dar, Ms. Zaib Jaffar (through video-link), Zulfiqar Ali Behan, Ms. Naz Baloch, and Prof. Dr. Shahnaz Naseer Baloch, Nasir Khan Musa Zai. Moulana Abdul Akber Chitrali, Muhammad Jamal-ud-din and Aliya Kamran, MNAs/movers also attended the meeting.
The senior officers from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and its attached departments, the Ministry of Law & Justice, and the Ministry of Interior were also present during the meeting.