Kathmandu, June 16:

The government has set up a three-member committee to investigate into the controversial list of jounalists, published by the government last week, stating that 84 journalists had taken monetary assitance during the king’s direct rule period.

Kishor Shrestha, general secratary of the Weekly/Fortnightly National Network, today said the Ministry of Information and Communication has formed a committee, led by the minstry’s legal officer Amar Paudel to investigate the list’s authenticity.

“The state minister for information and communication Dilendra Prasad Badu today said that he has formed a committee to investigate the list of the journalists, as the ministry had released the list without proper investigation, to punish the culprits after fact-finding,” he said.

He added that the list has caused a “lot of chaos” among the journalists as some unexpected names have also been found included and some have already denied that they had taken any money from the government. “In that case, forming a committee from the government itself shows some hope,” he added.

The minister talked about the committee to a delegation of jouarnlists working for weeklies and forthnightlies. The delegation also discussed the problems of weeklies and forthnightlies with the minister. They also demanded that the press passes of fake journalists should be confiscated. Sources also said the Home Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are also planning to release similar lists in near future.