The manifesto issued by the federation strongly opposes the tendency of media houses to not pay regular salaries to working journalists, force them to resign, treat them with disrespect, and even suspend them under the pretext of economic crisis.
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The National Conference of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) has given an ultimatum to the government to address the demands of journalists within seven days.
Unveiling the ‘Lalitpur Declaration-2083’ issued by the conference held in Lalitpur on Monday, the Federation’s General Secretary Ram Prasad Dahal informed that if the demands are ignored, an international media mission will be launched along with the Singha Durbar-centered movement. Reiterating the Federation’s commitment to press freedom, freedom of expression, citizen supremacy, democracy, federalism and human rights, it has expressed serious concern over the recent information restriction, discrimination in government information and advertisements, and arrests, threats and insecurity against journalists under the Electronic Transactions Act.
The declaration has been deemed to be against the essence of press freedom, right to information and federalism and has demanded its immediate withdrawal. In addition, the government has been urged to provide a concrete address within seven days, stating that Minister for Information and Communications Bikram Timilsina has committed to holding discussions with the Federation.
The conference has strongly opposed the tendency of media houses to not pay regular salaries to working journalists, force them to resign during tax cuts, treat them with disrespect and even suspend them under the pretext of economic crisis. The media houses have been urged to pay the remaining salaries immediately and fully comply with labor rights.
Similarly, the government has been demanded to amend the Working Journalists Act and include all media houses in the Social Security Fund, increase the minimum wage and bring journalists working in government media as contract, wage earners and stringers under the ambit of social security.
The conference has also drawn the government's attention to fully implementing the constitutional principle of separation of powers between the three organs of the state, stating that the process of amending the constitution should be carried out in a way that ensures elected representation.
Similarly, it has been demanded to amend the media-related laws to be press-friendly, timely and in line with the spirit of federalism, to facilitate the registration and renewal process of online media and to provide exemptions in renewal fees.
Stating that violations of the journalist code of conduct are increasing, the Federation has also announced that it will launch a campaign for the effective implementation of the code of conduct and will take strict action against serious violations.
