Raipur : As reported by HT, a committee is working on the draft of Chhattisgarh Protection of Media persons Act in order to provide protection to journalists by making their harassment a cognizable but bailable offence, with a jail term of up to one year for violators. Members of the committee that framed the draft said it also proposes the constitution of a media protection unit in every district.

The draft is likely to be submitted to the state government in November and will be finalised after discussion with the Press Council of India and Editor’s Guild of India, they said.

The proposed act also provides up to one year for a “public servant” who neglects his responsibilities to protect journalists. The draft law, seen by HT, lists offences as cognizable and bailable, and has separate provisions for journalists working in Maoist-affected Bastar region of the state.

“We have also defined ‘media person’,”said a member of the drafting committee, who was not willing to be quoted. This, the member said, was because “many of the journalists working in Bastar region work for websites or are regarded as columnists, not journalists.”

Committee member Ruchir Garg who is also an adviser to chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said, “The primary process of discussing the bill/act is complete and now we have to discuss the final draft.”

 BJP spokesperson Gauri Shankar Shrivas said, “The Congress government has no right to talk about journalist protection … In the last 10 months, they have booked over a dozen journalists. No one is speaking up because of the intimidation by government machinery.”

While welcoming the proposed law, Raipur-based journalist Lalit Surjan said implementing it will be a challenge as there could be several frivolous complaints. “It would help genuine journalists in the conflict zone of Bastar as they need protection against harassment by government agencies. But in other areas, it will be difficult to justify harassment of journalists,” he said.