The Editors’ Guild Manipur (EGM) and the Manipur Hill Journalists’ Union (MHJU) have urged Information Minister T. Bishwajit and others, including Chief Minister N. Biren, to clear all pending Government advertisement bills by December 10. In case of non-settlement, the print and electronic media would “resort to unwanted steps, including media censure of the Government policies and activities and even boycott Government news (excluding the law and order ones)”.
Khogendra Khomdram and Peter Adani, presidents of the EGM and the MHJU, submitted a memorandum to Mr. Bishwajit on November 27 pointing out that “bill amounts running into several lakhs of rupees each to print and electronic media remain unpaid for a long time. It is a fact that the COVID-19 has taken its toll on the Government and other establishments, including the media industry. But the media is a tool in fighting the pandemic. The media continues its work despite risk to the employees”. A joint meeting of the print and electronic media resolved to set the deadline on December 10.
Meanwhile, Brinda Thounaojam, a young Manipur Police Service officer, who had recently resigned to contest the March 2022 Assembly election said, “The Government cannot declare the recruitment results of a few hundreds of IRB personnel since the empty coffer cannot pay salary to the new personnel”.
College teachers have also announced phased agitations demanding implementation of the 7th UGC pay scale. They announced that they would, to start with, attend colleges wearing black badges. It would be followed by other agitations, including the boycott of all online and offline classes.
