KATHMANDU: The government has proposed to observe 'National Journalism Day' on May 26.

The Ministry of Information and Communications asked concerned sectors and experts to hold discussions on the matter, following the proposal made by the Gorakhapatra Corporation to celebrate the Day on May 26 on the occasion of its anniversary.

The Department of Information said that consultations were on with the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), the Press Council Nepal and the Department of Information, in this regard.

"It is relevant to observe National Journalism Day on the day that coincides with the anniversary of Nepal's oldest newspaper that has made major contribution throughout the history. It is also important at a time when no such particular day has been assigned to observe such day in journalism," an official of the Information Department said.

Likewise, FNJ President Dr Mahendra Bista said that it is a positive step to observe National Journalism Day.

Press Council chair Borna Bahadur Karki said that the day was important to promote journalism sector. The day should be marked as it helps promote journalism sector for the institutional development of democracy, he added.

Similarly, National Information Commission commissioner Yashodha Timilsina said that marking the National Journalism Day would be positive.

Journalism Professor P. Kharel said that some condition have the tradition of marking National Journalism Day therefore it would be fitting if the government announced the Day in the context of press freedom and freedom of expression enshrined in the constitution itself.

He added that the constitution has always practiced press freedom adding that celebration of the Day would be apt as there are only few newspapers with a history of more than 100 years in South Asia. Therefore, the inception day of Gorkhapatra should be marked as national journalism day.

Gorkhapatra was established on May 26 1901 by the then Prime Minister Dev Shumsher Rana.