No one should misinterpret the guidelines. They are not final. We will consider suggestions from the journalists and will finalise a draft with a consultation of the press advisory committee and the journalist fraternity---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Pramod Sawant,
Goa Assembly Speaker
PANAJI: Speaker Pramod Sawant who has faced opposition from members of the journalism fraternity, has declined to withdraw his guidelines for the issuance of accreditation passes to journalists covering the Assembly proceedings but said that he was open to modifying the guidelines as per the wishes of journalists.
"No one should misinterpret the guidelines. They are not final. We will consider suggestions from the journalists and will finalise a draft with a consultation of the press advisory committee and the journalist fraternity," Sawant said.
Addressing a press conference, Speaker Pramod Sawant who called for a meeting of the press accreditation committee, informed that he was open to modifying the ‘guidelines’.
The guidelines which had been termed as ‘draconian’ by opposition parties as well as the journalist union.
“The guidelines strike at the very root of the freedom of speech and the right to be informed -- both of which are at the core of our fundamental rights as citizens -- and more than being an enabler are designed to block access for a majority of media houses and their representatives for covering the assembly,” the Goa Union of Journalists said in a statement.
“GUJ is of the opinion that the guidelines, by their very nature will exclude a majority of newspapers and reporters from covering the proceedings of the assembly, which sadly seems to be the design of these guidelines,” he added saying that only a handful of newspapers and their representatives would meet the criteria set by the Speaker.
