On Monday (22nd June), the Press Council of India took Suo Motu cognizance of notice of termination to as many as 20 journalists working at The Hindu’s Mumbai Office if they do not resign.
Justice CK Prasad, Chairman of Press Council of India, noted concernedly that a large number of journalists employed at The Hindu’s Mumbai Office have been asked to resign from their posts.
The press release reads-
‘It has come to the notice that the management of The Hindu is not taking recourse to the terms and conditions under which they are governed and the terms and conditions of their appointment excluded the application of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 for redressal of their grievances and rendering them remediless.’
The PCI has called for comments from the Editor of The Hindu and Regional General Manager, The Hindu, Mumbai.
20 of the journalists asked to resign have written to Chairman N Ram, CEO LV Navaneeth and Editor Suresh Nambath asking for some over the social media and word of mouth speculations related to job losses at The Hindu, Mumbai Office.
As per the letter, the aggrieved didn’t have any official information about the termination or forced resignation.
It said that all those who signed the letter wanted to work with The Hindu, as it has been considered an ideal workplace for Indian journalists, where they are well respected and given editorial freedom.
‘The principles on which The Hindu has operated in the past is what should apply to us as a team now. For a news organization that prides itself on reporting labor laws and violations of the same in a robust manner we appeal to you to clarify the situation to us in writing,’ the letter said.
The Hindu - Mumbai was launched about 5 years ago and as of today, a majority of the team has been asked to resign. The number of journalists who still remain with the Chennai-based newspaper’s Mumbai Office remains in single digits.
