New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday issued a notice on a petition filed against several media organisations’ decision to lay off employees or force them to take pay cuts during the nationwide lockdown.
The notice seeks response from the central government, the Indian Newspaper Society and the News Broadcasters’ Association.
A bench comprising Justices N.V. Ramana, S.K. Kaul and B.R. Gavai asserted that the petition, jointly filed by the National Alliance of Journalists, the Delhi Union of Journalists and the BrihanMumbai Union of Journalists, raises “some serious issues”, on which a hearing is required.
The court said: “Other unions are also saying this. The question is, if business does not start, how long will people sustain?”
Also read: Job losses, pay cuts, editions shut — coronavirus triggers new crisis for Indian media
What the petition says
The petition accuses employers in the media industry of meting out “inhuman and illegal treatment” to their employees. It refers to advisories issued by the central government as well as appeals by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to not terminate services or reduce wages of the employees.
The petition then submits that despite these advisories, the media industry has imposed layoffs and pay cuts “with impunity”.
“Despite the advisories mentioned above and legal provisions that disallow retrenchments, terminations or even suspension and closure of publications without due process, media companies have gone ahead with these measures, unmindful of the fact that, in a lockdown of such an incredible magnitude people can barely move out, leave alone go job-hunting,” it contends.
The plea goes on to list six such instances — The Indian Express asking staff to take salary cuts, News Nation terminating services of 16 employees of its English digital team, The Times of India sacking its entire Sunday magazine team, The Quint asking 45 members of its team to go on leave without pay, and Bloomberg Quint indicating steep salary cuts for the month of April.
The petition contends that such “arbitrary actions” by media houses place journalists in a “precarious situation”, and also have a “pernicious effect on the media sector”, hampering the “media’s ability to perform its functions in the democratic set up”.
It then demands that all the termination notices, resignations that have been sought, reductions in wages and directions to go on leave without pay — issued after the lockdown — be suspended with immediate effect.
Also read: The economics of news media and why it’s in deep crisis because of Covid-19
People will sustain as long resources last. This is a pandemic of unimaginable proportion and the most resourceful governments world over has failed miserably. Courts should not have entertained these sort of frivilous petitions that will lead to micro-management of executive functions….. !
Only those have lost job , who do not bend to the wishes of the Govt., or report praising Govt., policies and work all the time, especially the PM and are not right wing reporter , having no extra qualifications requiring bad mouthing Congress especially the Gandhi family , are the ones who have been kicked out .
If u are an organisation and have no appetite to digest a small peel of lockdn,what is your exist3mce.
What about Air India?
To lift the lockdown, let’s carry out testing in all the hotspots. It should be 50% in hotspots .More the test numbers more economical will be the testing. The testing should be completed in one week. Large number of testing will help to lift the lockdown much earlier than expected. Let’s understand that numbers in India are very encouraging.
How long an industry can survive , if it cannot generate to meet its expenses . So the industries will look into curtail the expenses, in all possible ways. If per capita /staff income does not go up, industry will definitely decrease the staff strength, or reduce the salary, otherwise a situation will come to close down the industry.
Advisory has no legal value,Modi led govt has slashed pension to senior citizens therefore it has no plea in Mediamen favour.Better ask for Mid Day Meal from central govt.
But many Governments including the Union Government have resorted to one or the other of the injustices mentioned in the writ petition by the Uniona. Also please note that the Managements of larger media groups including Government and quasi-Government are not party to the petition. The Court must suo moto engage them for a universal solution and relief panIndia.
If the govt.give subsidy news journalist can be paid salary.
Bahut mushqil waqt hai. 26 million Americans have lost their jobs in five weeks, filed unemployment claims, something Indians cannot. The figure for India has been estimated at 140 million. Imperial / judicial verdicts cannot help those who have lost their means of sustenance. Why the economy was not Priority # 1 – 9 out of 10 for the last six years remains a mystery.