Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, March 15:

Fearing media criticism, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) administration is planning to prohibit journalists from attending its board meetings.

Various newspapers have been reporting on internal issues of the KMC, which according to the administration, would hamper its future plans.

"The KMC administration is taking a decision soon to disallow journalists from attending its board meetings as some ward chairmen are also uncomfortable in their presence," said a ward chairman.

At a previous board meeting, some ward chairmen urged the mayor to condemn those reporters who had written about the KMC bankruptcy but the mayor instead told his colleagues to take criticism in their stride.

The KMC source said that the journalists were not invited deliberately in the last board meeting in which many members were reportedly drunk and behaved irrationally. He added that ward cha-irmen were asked not to talk to journalists with regard to the bo-ard meetings.

"The bar is going to hamper the KMC. The journalists should be taken as supporters despite their criticism. They are like a mirror because they reflect what we are. If they are not allowed to participate in the board meeting, they will certainly find another source of information," he said.

However, chief of information department Shishir Manandhar categorically denied any such possibility and said the KMC needs support of the media.