Chennai: After a 25-year hiatus, the Chennai Press Club elected its managing committee members on 15 December last year, giving a fresh impetus to the push for elections in other media unions, such as the Madras Reporters Guild, the Madras Union of Journalists, and the Tamil Nadu Press Photographers Association.
On Friday, N. Ram, a seasoned journalist and director at The Hindu Publishing Group, praised the new managing committee of the Chennai Press Club for its transparency and enhancing journalists’ welfare.
“It (the elected committee) has brought back sports activities and is working on several more positive programmes of benefit to working journalists,” he wrote in a post on X.
At the Chennai Press Club, which has roughly 1,503 members, reporter M. Suresh Vedhanayagam from the Dinakaran Tamil daily was elected president and journalist M. Haseef, a freelancer who spearheaded the efforts to hold the elections, was chosen general secretary last month.
At the Madras Reporters Guild, established in 1957, veteran journalist A. Subramani is currently leading the charge for starting elections. He has highlighted that facilities meant for the community’s welfare—established during former chief minister K. Kamaraj’s tenure—have been rendered inaccessible by a select group holding power undemocratically.
“We have taken this to court and have also involved revenue officials. An inquiry by the RDO (revenue divisional officer) is scheduled to begin on 28 January,” Subramani told ThePrint.
ThePrint also reached Madras Reporters Guild’s ex-president R. Rangarajan via calls, but he refused to comment.
In his X post, Ram also voiced his concerns over the Madras Reporters Guild. “The Guild was established in 1957 and was inaugurated by Chief Minister K. Kamaraj. It is now locked up because of the manoeuvres of a small entrenched group holding on undemocratically,” he wrote.
Chennai Press Club’s General Secretary Haseef pointed out that the issue extends beyond just the Madras Reporters Guild, affecting many other unions and associations.
“It’s encouraging that democratising the Press Club has opened discussions on democratising other unions, which have, otherwise, been controlled by a few. Now, the photographers’ association is also planning elections, and the Madras Union of Journalists, the oldest trade union in this sector, is facing similar challenges,” Haseef said.
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Chennai Press Club election
According to veteran journalists, Chennai Press Club office-bearers were elected in 1999, and since then, no election has been held.
In 2010, late senior Journalist R. Mohan, then the general secretary of the Madras Union of Journalists, began the protest to conduct elections at the Chennai Press Club, recalled Haseef.
After the demise of Mohan in 2017, his mentees, including Haseef, took up the efforts, including the legal battle.
“It was only in 2023 that our efforts to conduct an election started taking shape after bringing in senior journalists, including N. Ram, Nakkheeran magazine Editor-in-Chief Gopal, and veteran journalists Bhagwan Singh and D. Suresh Kumar. They held talks with the then-functionaries, who were controlling the club and formed a special guidance committee, approved by the club’s general council in August 2023,” Haseef said.
Formed in August 2023, the special guidance committee formally took charge in June 2024 and began a membership drive, with the count reaching 1,503 after scrutinising applications. The elections were held thereafter.
Madras Reporters Guild
On the ongoing tussle at the Madras Reporters Guild, N. Ram wrote, “It is regrettable to see a situation where journalists have been left with no option but to approach courts, the police, and revenue authorities for a remedy. I hope the matter will get resolved soon so that the Madras Reporters Guild too can see a revival like the Press Club.”
Speaking to ThePrint, Subramani said nearly two generations of journalists have been denied the membership of the Madras Reporters Guild. “They are just five to ten people who are now holding office and refuse to admit new members,” Subramani said.
Subramani, with 25 years of experience, is not a member.
Looking back, Subramani said that former Chief Minister K. Kamaraj kicked off the movement towards constituting the Madras Reporters Guild.
“During one of his press conferences, the former Chief Minister asked the reporters to return after lunch and soon he inquired where they would go to have their lunch. When the reporters said they would have lunch under the tree, he initiated the reporters into forming a union, so that he would allocate a place for them,” Subramani said.
After the Madras Reporters Guild was formed in 1957, the Tamil Nadu state government allocated land and constructed a building near the present-day Omandurar Hospital on Wallajah Road near Chepauk Stadium. When the state government decided to construct Omandurar Hospital, the guild was allocated land on a government estate at Navalar Nagar in Chepauk, adjacent to the Chennai Press Club office premises.
“The government not only allocated the land but also constructed a building for journalists in the same locality,” Subramani said.
However, due to mismanagement, the guild lost its trade union status, and the existing functionaries registered it under the Societies Act in 2022.
“We have contested against registering it under the Societies Act as well. The case is still pending before the Madras Civil Court,” Subramani said.
The efforts to rejuvenate the guild began on 19 December when the Chennai Press Club functionaries conducted a felicitation programme. Following that, multiple talks with the existing functionaries failed, and the team led by Subramani approached the court, seeking a remedy.
Veteran journalist Wilson Aseervatham filed the relevant petition, which is now pending before the city civil court.
What triggered democratisation
The democratisation of one forum has shown what democratically elected functionaries can do for the welfare of the community of journalists, said Haseef.
Just days after taking the oath, the new managing committee members of Chennai Press Club 17 January met with the chief minister to present several demands, including an increase in journalist solatium from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. On 18 December, the Tamil Nadu government issued an order increasing the solatium to Rs 10 lakh.
On 19 December, during a felicitation event, the committee also announced a comprehensive medical check-up scheme for journalists and one family member—valued at Rs 30,000.
For the first time, the club also organised Pongal celebrations on the Chennai Press Club premises, where journalists and their families participated.
“The Pongal celebration organised by the Press Club on 12 January was a well-attended and joyous event. I participated, and it was a pleasure to see Shabbir Ahmed, the leader of the rival team that contested the election, participate in the celebrations with his family,” N Ram said in his X post.
Now, the club is also conducting a two-day carrom board competition among the journalists on 25 and 26 January.
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