New Delhi, Dec 3 : The centre will immediately set up Wage Board for Journalist and Non-Journalist Employees of Newspapers and News Agencies, Union Labour Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao assured here today.
He told a delegation of Kerala Union Of Working Journalists (KUWJ), who presented him a memorandum highlighting the demand after a Parliament March, that the Journalists of the Electronic media would also be brought within the purview of the Working Journalists
Act and extended the benefit of the new wage board.
“In the event of there being any difficulty in bringing the tv journalists within the purview of the existing act, remedial measures would be taken to achieve the goal,” he said.
He said the new wage board would include representatives of all sections in the newspaper industry.
The KUWJ delegation comprised of President Bobby Abraham, General Secretary S Jayasankar, Delhi unit President D Vijayamohan, Kerala Press Academy Vice-Chairman C Gauridasan Nair.
In the memorandum, the KUWJ demanded that the government constitute next wage board without further delay and interim relief paid to the employees till its recommendations were implemented. It was pointed out that though the wages of journalists and non-journalists were to be revised once in five years, it had almost been seven years since the recommendations of the previous Manisana Singh wage board were implemented.