Kathmandu, September 11

Minister for Information and Communications Mohan Bahadur Basnet today said that the Mass Media National Academy will be set up in all the seven provinces.

The minister said this while receiving the memorandum submitted by Press Chautari Nepal today. PCN has urged him not to build the academy in the name of former prime minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai.

In response, the minister said the government was planning to establish the academy in the name of Bhattarai adding that other such academies could be established in other provinces recognizing other leaders who had contributed to the journalism sector.

Chautari chair Ganesh Basnet added that the saint leader Bhattarai’s name should not be drawn in controversy as there was controversy for the first FNJ president.

He added that whether Bhattarai was the first FNJ president or Satya Narayan Shrestha is still a matter of debate.

The PCN has submitted 14-point memo including proportional advertisement among others to Minister Basnet.