In a sign that the media may not take finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s arbitrary decision to restrict entry to journalists to North Block lightly, the members of the Press Council of India, the Press Association, the Foreign Correspondents Club and the Women’s Press Corps have all signed a petition, registering their strong protest against the move.
The Editors Guild has suggested that if Ms Sitharaman has an issue with the entry of journalists whom she believes are causing trouble, she should initiate a discussion with them rather than restrict them to an awning outside the building, unless they have a prior appointment with officials.
The traditional post-Budget dinner hosted by the finance minister was always marked by a healthy exchange of ideas between the sitting minister and journalists, where much of the Budget — and much else — would be discussed threadbare. In a sign of unease, Friday night's dinner did not have the numbers that Ms Sitharaman’s highly respected predecessor Arun Jaitley, attracted.
While one understands the restrictions on access to the Prime Minister's Office — if not so much the blanket ban on press coverage of the Prime Minister’s critical foreign policy initiatives — and the defence ministry, Ms Sitharaman’s blocking of entry to even journalists accredited by the Press Information Bureau while claiming she was streamlining procedures is clearly a bid to monitor bureaucrat-journo interactions. And that is the real issue.
A healthy give-and-take is far better than acrimony. The ill feelings haven’t taken on the proportions of a Kangana Ranaut-versus-the press as of yet. But they could. What next? Taking a leaf out of Pakistan where three media channels were taken off air when running interviews with jailed Opposition leader Nawaz Sharif? Orwell, here we come!
