Media access to Central Hall of Parliament under scrutiny, review likely

Access to Central Hall, where members of both Houses of Parliament meet, is currently granted to only over 200 senior journalists who have fulfilled the criteria laid down by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

The Central Hall is where the joint sitting of the two Houses takes place. (File)

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is likely to constitute a committee which will take a fresh look at the much-coveted Central Hall passes granted to media personnel, sources disclosed Monday.

Access to Central Hall, where members of both Houses of Parliament meet, is currently granted to only over 200 senior journalists who have fulfilled the criteria laid down by the Lok Sabha Secretariat — one has to have experience of at least 10 years of Parliament reporting on a permanent pass to qualify for entry to the hallowed precincts where the Constitution was framed.

The Central Hall is also where the joint sitting of the two Houses takes place. On most days, journalists go there for informal interaction with members of the two Houses to get insight into issues.

Story continues below this ad

On Monday, Birla is understood to have flagged a proposal for discontinuing media access to the Central Hall of Parliament at a meeting of the General Purposes Committee of Lok Sabha. The Speaker heads the GPC. “Charcha huyi hai (a discussion has been held),” sources said, adding a committee will be set up to review passes to the Central Hall.

Sources said Birla told the GPC that he had received complaints that some media personnel show up in the Central Hall at 10 am and leave at 7 pm. It was also pointed out to the Speaker that some journalists indulged in non-journalistic work.

The proposal to deny the media access to Central Hall did not go down well with some members of the Opposition and non-NDA parties. The issue, which was not on the agenda of the GPC, came up when the matter pertaining to re-constitution of the Press Advisory Committee of Lok Sabha was taken up.

This committee, comprising over two dozen media representatives nominated by the Speaker, advises the Lok Sabha Secretariat on matters pertaining to media coverage and accreditation to the Press Gallery. The Press Advisory Committee was last constituted in 2016, and its tenure lapsed on August 1, 2017.

Story continues below this ad

The 45-member GPC includes Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP), T R Baalu, Kanimozhi and A Raja (all DMK), Sudip Bandyopadhyay (Trinamool), Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Shashi Tharoor and Kodikunnil Suresh (Congress), Radha Mohan Singh, Jual Oram, Meenakshi Lekhi, P P Chaudhary, Satyapal Singh, Rama Devi, Heena Gavit, Jagdambika Pal and Rita Bahuguna Joshi (BJP), Bhartruhari Mahtab and Pinaki Misra (BJD), Nama Nageswara Rao (TRS), Vinayak Raut (Shiv Sena), Midhun Reddy (YSR Congress) Rajiv Ranjan Lalan (Janata Dal-U), N K Premachandran (RSP) and Supriya Sule (NCP).

For the latest coverage on Delhi Election Results 2020 log on to IndianExpress.com. We bring you the fastest updates on . Stay Connected.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram