Centre rejects India’s ranking on latest World Press Freedom Index
The report, which was released in May, said India’s ranking fell down to 150th position from last year’s 142nd rank.
India does not agree with the conclusions of foreign non-government organisation (NGO) “Reporters Without Borders” that the country ranks 150th among 180 nations in the World Press Freedom Index, Union information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur informed Parliament on Tuesday.
The report, which was released in May, said India’s ranking fell down to 150th position from last year’s 142nd rank.
In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Thakur said “the government does not subscribe to its (NGO’s) views and country rankings… for various reasons, including very low sample size, little or no weightage to fundamentals of democracy, adoption of a methodology which is questionable and non-transparent, etc.”
Thakur’s statement was in response to a query by Trinamool Congress MP Mala Roy and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MPs A Raja and A Ganeshamurthi, asking “whether it is a fact that India ranked in the bottom 30 worst nations out of 180 as maintained by the media watchdog in the World Press Freedom Index”.
The lawmakers belonging to the opposition parties also sought to know “whether the executive is using unfettered powers through various laws like National Security Act, IPC Sedition Law, UAP Act., etc., to gag the freedom of journalists and threaten them.”
The government does not interfere in the functioning of the press, Thakur said. Press Council of India (PCI), a statutory autonomous body, has been set up under the Press Council Act, 1978, mainly to preserve the freedom of the press and improve the standards of newspapers and news agencies in the country, he added.
It is the PCI that considers complaints filed “by the Press” concerning curtailment of press freedom, physical assault/attack on journalists etc. The body is empowered to take suo-motu cognizance in matters related to press freedom and safeguarding of its high standards, the Union minister said.
“Central Government attaches highest importance to the safety and security of all residents of the country including journalists,” Thakur said. “An advisory specifically on safety of journalists was issued to States/UTs on 20th October, 2017 requesting them to strictly enforce the law to ensure safety and security of journalists/ media persons etc,” he said.
