PCB gets new chief: media asked to leave meeting hall

Vice-President Priyanka Shrigiri terms it ‘miscommunication’, says no intention to bar the media

Media persons who were officially invited to report the General Body proceedings at the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) on Monday morning were asked to leave the hall, before the meeting could commence, and wait outside.

While usually reporters would wait, this was the second occasion when outgoing PCB chief Brig Rajiv Sethi had barred the media from attending the General Body meeting. On Monday, reporters who had been waiting for an hour for the meeting to commence were categorically told to wait outside as they had scheduled internal discussions, which were not open to the press.

Brig Sethi, despite protests by the media, asked the reporters to wait outside the meeting hall. The journalists then decided to boycott the General Body meeting.

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The Cantonment Board is a civic administration body under the Defence Ministry. It comprises elected members, besides ex-officio and nominated members as per the Cantonments Act, 2006.

On Monday, Major General Prithi Singh, General Officer Commanding, Dakshin Maharashtra Sub Area, was taking charge after being appointed the new president of the Pune Cantonment Board. The post has recently been upgraded to a Major General Rank officer on April 12. The new president was slated to take oath at the meeting held on Monday and media persons were officially invited by the authorities.

Official sources said the board authorities were hesitant to allow the media to attend the meeting on Monday. The CEO of PCB D N Yadav, meanwhile, said the authorities had cooperated with the media. “However, it is the priority of the PCB chief who convenes the meeting to decide. The meeting had regular topics on the agenda, including the approval of Rs 2.5 crore worth equipment at an ITI… There were no sensitive issues that had to be discussed,” said Yadav.

Vice-President Priyanka Shrigiri said there had been some miscommunication and there was no intention of barring the media from the meeting. Dilip Giramkar, board member, said after the “internal talks” were over, the media persons were re-invited.

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