Chitwan, July 1:

A meeting of branch presidents of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) and associated organisations started in Sauraha of Chitwan today.

The FNJ statute, as per rights given by the statute convention earlier in Mahendranagar of Kanchapur, will be amended at the meeting, FNJ sources said.

FNJ president Bisnhu Nisthuri opened the meet.

Coordinator of the Statute Amendment Committee Harihar Birahi alleged that though the persons representing ruling power have changed, their mentality has not.

Presidnet of the Chitwan chapter of the Nepali Congress Tek Prasad Gurung, Jagrit Prasad Bhetwal of the CPN-UML, Maoist Chitwan in-charge Pathik, Bashudev Dhungana of the NC (D), Kapil Pokhrel of the CPN (Marxist-Leninist) and chairperson of the Hotels’ Association of Chitwan Ghanashyam Shrestha also spoke.

Former FNJ presidents Suresh Acharya and Taranath Dahal, and Gopal Thapaliya of the South Asian Journalists’ Association demanded that the statute be drafted in line with democratic norms and values.