Journalists to stage sit-in outside Punjab Assembly today

LAHORE: Journalists from across the province will stage a protest sit-in outside the Punjab Assembly today (Tuesday) as they have planned to boycott the assembly proceedings and stop the MPAs and the ministers from entering the building.
The protest organised by the Council of Pakistan Press Clubs and the Regional Union of Journalists (RUJ) would start at 10am. Both the groups of Punjab Union of Journalists (PUJ) and other representative bodies have supported the call and will participate in the protest.
In this connection, a meeting was held Monday at the Lahore Press Club (LPC) with the club president, Arshad Ansari, in the chair. The meeting condemned the inaction over Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s directives about solving their problems, including medical insurance and Journalist Colony, and decided to launch protest to press their demands.
Ansari said the chief minister had announced medical insurance for journalists at the oath-taking ceremony and also formed a committee comprising the assembly members to solve the court matters pertaining to the Journalist Colony. But, he said, the committee’s proposals had not been implemented, which resulted in halting the development works at the colony.
It had affected the A, B, C, E and F blocks, while lethargic attitude was shown in acquiring land for the F Block, despite being awarded, Ansari said, adding that the chief minister had given time till March 10 for purpose, but progress could be seen so far.
The meeting said the protest would continue till the chief minister ensured resolution of journalists’ problems at the earliest.On the occasion, Ansari said journalists from across Punjab were reaching the city under the leadership of RUJ President Shafqat Hussain Gilani and General Secretary Babar Mughal, while the office bearers and representatives of all the press clubs of Punjab were already in Lahore.