Kathmandu, September 22

The Federation of Nepali Journalists today staged a protest demanding that journalists Prakash Bahadur Bam, Chakra Kunwar and Sunita Rawal be reinstated to their posts.

The journalists, who worked at Radio Nepal Regional Transmission Centre, Dipayal of the state-owned radio for years, were dismissed without fulfilling any administrative procedures. FNJ officer-bearers and working journalists staged a protest at Hanumansthan, near the southern gate of Singha Durbar.

Last week, as many as nine journalists were arrested by police for staging sit protest in front of Radio Nepal, which is situated inside the administrative headquarters.

FNJ also demanded that Radio Nepal and other media houses implement the Working Journalists Act and the provision of minimum salary for journalists. The umbrella organisation of journalists has been urging the government to implement the act. It has also been urging the media houses to respect the work of journalists time and again, but to no avail.

It stated that working journalists were entitled to appointment letter, salary and facilities as stipulated in the act.

According to the FNJ, some journalists have been facing problems to obtain press accreditation card as concerned media houses failed to submit information such as designation of journalists and their monthly salary structure to the Department of Information and Broadcasting.

FNJ has also pressurised the DoIB to make it mandatory for all media houses to implement provision of minimum salary determined by the government for working journalists.