Kathmandu, May 26:

The government today formed a task force to implement effectively the Working Journalist Act 2051.

Joint secretary at the Ministry of Information and Communication Ratna Raj Pandey is the coordinator of the task force, while representatives from Federation of Nepalese Journalists, Nepal Press Union, Press Chautari, Working Journalist Struggle Committee and other media related bodies are the members.

The task force was formed in response to the demand made by the Working Journalist Struggle Committee (WJSC), Information minister Diliendra Prasad Badu said.

Quoting the minister as saying, the secretary of WJSC, KP Dhungana, said, the Information minister Badu informed the delegation of formation of the task force.

“According to the ministry, the task force will look after all the problems journalists had to face or are facing after the King’s February 1 take-over,” Dhungana said.

Earlier, the delegation had handed over a seven-point memorandum to minister Badu, seeking job guarantee and professional security of working journalists who were sacked or treated differently during the period of King’s direct rule.

However, joint secretary Ratna Raj Pandey, talking to The Himalayan Times, said, it is too early to say anything because he had not received any formal information about the task force and was not sure about his duty as the coordinator.