KATHMANDU, MARCH 23

Speakers at a function held here today stressed the need to ensure minimum wage for working journalists.

At a programme held at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology today, the participants commented that some journalists were still forced to work without remuneration.

On the occasion, Ministry Secretary Hari Prasad Basyal said the issue of minimum wage has long been unsolved despite its urgency.

He said that the ministry has been holding discussions to resolve the issue of minimum wage of working journalists. As officials have been appointed in the minimum wage fixation committee, the pervading problem should be resolved soon, he stressed.

Committee Chairperson Rajendra Aryal said it was difficult to determine the real statistics of working journalists across the country.

He pledged to gather real data and details of working journalists and work to resolve the issue of minimum wage based on the data. Chairperson Aryal underlined the need to enforce proportional advertisement system and expressed confidence that it would start implementing the system after formation of the advertisement board.

Committee member Bimala Pandey highlighted the need to carry out comprehensive study to know the true situation of the media.

'Female journalists are facing more problems than their male counterparts,' she complained.

A version of this article appears in the print on March 24, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.