Thousands of journalists and non-journalists on Monday assembled outside the Congress office here and urged UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to give a strong direction to the government to notify Majithia wage boards’ recommendations immediately.
A memorandum in this regard, to be handed over to Ms. Gandhi, was submitted to Congress Treasurer Motilal Vohra by the Confederation of Newspapers and News Agencies Employees Organisation (CNNAEO).
CNNAEO General Secretary M.S. Yadav said Mr. Vohra assured the delegation that he would apprise the Congress president about the “inordinate delay” in notification of the panel’s recommendations for wage revision.
Mr. Yadav said Mr. Vohra told the delegation that he would personally talk to Union Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge for early notification of the wage boards’ recommendations.
Mr. Vohra assured the delegation of some “concrete action” within a week, the CNNAEO leader said.
Braving scorching sun, journalist and non-journalist employees of newspapers and news agencies, including women, from across the country participated in the peaceful protest outside the Congress headquarters.
Earlier, Mr. Yadav told the gathering that despite repeated assurances by several Cabinet Ministers for early notification of the wage boards’ recommendations, nothing had been done so far.
He alleged the delay was owing to undue pressure exerted by the management of media houses on the government.
Mr. Yadav said Ms. Gandhi had played an important role in the constitution of the wage boards and also in providing interim relief to employees.
He hoped she would give a strong direction to the government once again for notification of the wage boards’ recommendations including the five resolutions passed through voting.
IJU’s Suresh Akhouri and Madan Singh, AINEF leaders Madan Talwar, Roop Chand and Santosh Kumar, NUJ (I) M D Gangwar and Rajendra Prabhu, IFWJ General Secretary Parmanand Pandey, DUJ General Secretary S K Pande, UNI Workers Unions General Secretary M L Joshi and PTI Workers Union (Delhi) President Rajbir Singh, General Secretary Sanjay Sinha and Federation Executive member Ajay Tyagi were among the leaders who participated in the rally.
A large number of newspaper employees from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Maharashtra and other States joined the protest.
The CNNAEO leaders threatened to give a call for strike in the news organisations across the country if their demand for immediate notification of the wage boards’ recommendations was not met within 10 days.
