Wage board should be done away with: INS

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, SEPT. 26. The Indian Newspaper Society (INS) is of the view that the determination of wages and allowances of journalists and newspaper employees by a statutory wage board is a legacy of the past which should be done away with, the outgoing INS president, Mr. Vijay Kumar Chopra, said here on Wednesday.

Addressing the 62nd annual general meeting of the INS, Mr. Chopra said the Union Government had not paid attention to the INS representation that the Manisana Wage Board's recommendations be suitably modified to reduce the burden on newspaper establishments. While employees should be paid fair wages, it should be based on the capacity of the industry to pay.

Since newsprint was the major cost component in publishing a newspaper, its price, availability and quality were the concern of the industry. The last Union Budget had not given any relief from import duty on newsprint, Mr. Chopra said. In the wake of prices of imported newsprint falling, domestic prices had been lowered and were expected to be reduced further.

The rates for DAVP advertisements remained low and they had not been increased since January 1999. While current payments were streamlined, old arrears remained unpaid, sometimes for decades together, Mr. Chopra said. The revision of rates had been taken up with the Government.

The INS continued to assist members in the recovery of their advertising dues from agencies through the monthly review verification (MRV) system with the use of new software. But, a majority of small and medium newspapers did not regularly file MRV returns. The new software would help in monitoring outstandings even of smaller publications.

The figures related to INS members showed that the aggregate circulation was 5,13,35,539 copies.

This accounted for a substantial portion of the total print medium circulation, and it was significant that out of 703 INS members, 519 belonged to the small and medium category. This showed that the print medium continued to thrive due to its inherent strength.

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