x

Like our Facebook Page

   
Early Times Newspaper Jammu, Leading Newspaper Jammu
 
Breaking News :   Well done, Charak | Where cinema begins again: The quiet power of restored classics | The Global Population Challenge | Humans Vs Machines: who will win the future of human resource management | India cannot function without Ram, Krishna, Shiva: CM Yogi | New UP is rushing from heat wave to green wave under Yogi Govt, reveals Forest Deptt report | Balbir remembered Guru Ravidass on Guru Purnima | DC Bandipora visits Gurez, reviews developmental projects | 420 MT Rotor lowered in Unit-I of Pakal Dul H.E. Project, CVPPL | Power Shut down | LG warns people giving irresponsible statements, propagating TRF narrative | LG congratulates Rajat Charak | Post-Operation Sindoor, demand for ‘Make in India’ weapons has seen sharp rise: LG Sinha | Lithium auction in Reasi expected after final survey report | J&K has evolved into year-round, all-segment tourism destination: CM Omar | Arms cache recovered in Poonch | Nabbed with Rs 70 Lakh Heroin, a family from RS Pura’s Tanda village running cross-border narcotics network | Amarnath Yatra: 7,307 pilgrims leave Jammu Base Camp | SC says ECI’s roll revision drive mandated in Constitution, but questions timing | ACB arrests Patwari for accepting bribe | Landslide kills girl | 7 injured in Udhampur accident | Goods train derails in Kathua | Joint Director Tourism Jammu Aijaz Qaiser interacts with social media influencers | MLA Arvind felicitates young Wushu Stars for bringing laurels to J&K | Div Com Jammu reviews preparations for Annual Basohli Utsav | Illegal pony operator booked & temple theft case solved in Katra | J&K Govt embarks on study to establish IT/ITES Parks | HC Grants bail to CE in corruption case | J&K High Court conducts plantation drive at Janipur complex | Kavinder pays obeisance to Hridayadeep Ji Maharaj on Guru Purnima | Pipping ceremony of Assistant Sub-Inspector held | Drug peddler arrested, intoxicant capsules recovered by Udhampur police | ADGP Armed J&K visits IRP 4th Battalion, Kupwara | Mehbooba seeks EAM's intervention to save Indian nurse on death row in Yemen | India's higher education ecosytem has undergone fundamental transformation: Pradhan at VC conference | ED books 29 Actors, Influencers, YouTubers in online betting linked PMLA case | Govt to sell minority stake in LIC | Delhi cop receives extortion call of Rs 10 crore; FIR registered, probe on | Dogri song "Ambli Banage Daal" released in Jammu | "Rotary Club Jammu Elite and SIBA organize successful medical camp | Balwant Thakur to visit England from July 25 to expand Natrang's international network | Modi Govt sets new benchmark for corruption-free governance: Rohiin Chandan | JKAACL hosts "Meet the Author" event | Field office of Union Ministry of MSME organizes Seminar | Samba police arrests absconder | SHKSSJ celebrates Guru Purnima with devotion and grandeur | KSS celebrate Guru Purnima with traditional religious fervor | GAMC&H Akhnoor students visited Sitlee Water Purification Plant | Workshop on Bloom's Taxonomy to Empower Educators | SJVN organizes two-day Orientation Programme for CMDs and Directors of CPSEs | SJVN organizes two-day Orientation Programme for CMDs and Directors of CPSEs | SIPS Hosts CBSE Cluster XVIIl Kabaddi Tournament | SBSSU becomes first University in Punjab to implement mandatory "Entrepreneurship Mindset" curriculum | Preserving our ecosystem, a collective responsibility: Committee on Environment | KU holds special marathon for differently-abled students | Shreyanka, Sadhu named in India A squad to tour Australia, Radha to lead | New Delhi to host two major international shooting competitions in 2027-28 | Back Issues  
 
news details
Majority of dailies starve as only 3 'influential' get lion's share; Aggrieved seek Raj Bhawan's intervention
Bander Baanth: Allotted Rs 17 Cr, Info Dept spends only 4 Cr!
11/19/2018 11:51:15 PM
Early Times Report
Jammu, Nov 19: Despite having been sanctioned a whopping Rs 17 crore as the annual funds for issuance of advertisements to Jammu-based newspapers, the Information Department has spent mere around Rs four crore in the first eight months of the fiscal, hinting that over Rs ten crore may lapse due to the "conspiring laziness of the babus."
Even as the governments in other states across the country don't mind even to go out of the way to help local newspapers, Information department especially its Jammu wing headed by Joint Director, seems to want the local press starve though the winter capital region runs maximum number of newspapers in the restive state.
This "conspiracy" against the Jammu-based newspapers is apparently being done to favor three "influential" newspapers, which are in the "good books of some forces in the corridors of power and thus this Bander Baanth."
The local newspaper owners accused the Information department especially the Joint Director for Jammu, of being hell-bent to destroy the newspaper industry in the region, with Early Times being the prime target.
Laced with facts and figures, the aggrieved have come down heavily on the Information Department and also demanded intervention of Governor SP Malik.
Narrating their woeful tale of injustice, the newspapers owners said the J&K Information department was allocated Rs 34 crore budget for issuing advertisements in local newspapers for the year 2018. The amount included Rs 17 Cr each for newspapers published from Jammu and Srinagar.
To its credit, the Srinagar wing of the Information department has so far spent, and rightly so, Rs 10 cr of the Rs 17 cr it was allotted by the government in the budget for the current year.
It's believed that Srinagar newspapers received a fair amount of advertisement as per their circulation.
In Jammu, on the other hand, the Information department has spent just Rs 4 Cr of the Rs 17 Cr, which not only explains why most of the newspapers in Jammu are on the brink of closure but also reveals intentions of the Joint Director, Information department, towards the Jammu-based newspapers.
Notably, Jammu has more newspapers approved and registered with the Information department than Srinagar.
However, mere three "influential" dailies from Jammu receive 95% of the advertisements issued by the Information department every day.
"When the amount allocated for advertisement is not spent judiciously, it means the authorities wa
To its credit, the Srinagar wing of the Information department has so far spent, and rightly so, Rs 10 cr of the Rs 17 cr allotted by the government for current fiscal.
t only a few selected newspapers to mint fortunes while others should be put to death though starvation. Also, when the rest of the newspapers are not given advertisements, it leads to lapse of funds, the funds which had been allocated to the newspapers ignored by the Information officials," a newspaper owner told Early Times.
He said he was at loss to understand the rationale behind releasing advertisements to only three newspapers and ignoring other equally big and credible newspapers, like Early Times, and dozens of small newspapers.
The aggrieved newspaper owners also say that the Information department has, of late, adopted a strange method while releasing advertisements. If, for example, a particular department forwards an advertisement to the Information department and wants that it should be carried in colour in the newspapers, the Information officials release it in black and white. Likewise, if a particular department forwards an advertisement to the Information department with the direction that it should be carried in certain cm space, the Information officials slash or increase it size as per their wish. This tampering with the advertisements, according to the newspaper owners, is against the set norms.
"The Information department is just a nodal agency for receiving advertisements issued by different government departments and then forwarding them to the newspapers. The Information department officials are not authorised to tamper with the advertisements. The advertisements forwarded to the department have to be released to the newspapers as per the instructions of the issuing department," the newspaper owners say.
It goes without saying that hundreds of people work as reporters, editors, columnists, designers, runners, drivers, etc in newspapers like Early Times. In the absence of government advertisements, it would not be surprising if there is a major lay-off, leading to more unemployment in the state.
Since industrial sector in J&K is either non-existent or unorganised, unlike mega cities of the country like Delhi, Chandigarh, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai, where newspapers usually depend on the corporate sector for advertisements, the local newspapers here are totally dependant on the government for their survival.
"Hence, the Information department officials should explain why they are hell-bent on snatching the livelihood of hundreds of families in Jammu," the newspaper owners added adding "Is anybody listening?"
  Share This News with Your Friends on Social Network  
  Comment on this Story  
 
 
 
Early Times Android App
STOCK UPDATE
  
BSE Sensex
NSE Nifty
 
CRICKET UPDATE
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
Home About Us Top Stories Local News National News Sports News Opinion Editorial ET Cetra Advertise with Us ET E-paper
 
 
J&K RELATED WEBSITES
J&K Govt. Official website
Jammu Kashmir Tourism
JKTDC
Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine Board
Shri Amarnath Ji Shrine Board
Shri Shiv Khori Shrine Board
UTILITY
Train Enquiry
IRCTC
Matavaishnodevi
BSNL
Jammu Kashmir Bank
State Bank of India
PUBLIC INTEREST
Passport Department
Income Tax Department
JK CAMPA
JK GAD
IT Education
Web Site Design Services
EDUCATION
Jammu University
Jammu University Results
JKBOSE
Kashmir University
IGNOU Jammu Center
SMVDU