PESHAWAR - KP Minister for Labour and Culture, Shaukat Ali Yousafzai Monday said the present government fully be-lieves in the freedom of press and solid and practical steps including legislation are being taken to provide them protection and resolve their problems.
He expressed these views while speaking in a meeting of a non-political organization ‘Freedom Network’ here. The provincial Executive Director of the Freedom Network, Iqbal Khattak, who was also present on the occasion, briefed the minister in detail regarding the purpose and objectives of the organization and their efforts for guaranteeing the protection of journal-ists.
Besides, Shamim Shahid, other senior journalists Far-zana Ali, Syed Bukhar Shah Bacha, Mohammad Nisar Khan, Chairpersons Women Right s Commission, Dr. Riffat Sar-dar were also present.
The provincial minister urged upon the journalists to perform their duties with responsibility and never be-come instrumental for anyone. He also stressed need for initiating practical steps for imparting training and enhancement of the capacity of the journalists of the far-flung areas.
The provincial minister for labour and culture ex-pressed gratitude to Freedom Network for its efforts for the protection and welfare of journalists and out-standing journalistic style of the participating sen-ior journalists.
He further stressed upon the senior journalists, media organizations and journalists’ bodies for taking prac-tical steps for the resolution of problems and protec-tion of the rights of journalists across the province.
At the end of the meeting, the participants proposed the constitution of a special committee for imparting formal training to journalists, their capacity build-ing and problems faced by them both in field and desk, guaranteeing the implementation of the journalistic code of conduct, steps for protection of journalists and conferring cash awards and commendation certifi-cates on them on the basis of good performance.
The provincial minister agreed with the proposal and assured full cooperation on his behalf.