New Delhi: The Modi government is set to replace the 155-year-old law governing the functioning of newspapers and printing presses in India with a modern law that will also apply to the fast-growing digital news media sector.
Government sources said that discussions on finalizing The registration of the Press and Periodicals Bill – first introduced in 2019 – is almost complete and the Bill may soon be placed before the Cabinet for approval.
Thereafter, it is expected to be tabled in the monsoon session of Parliament that begins on Monday.
Sources in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting told ThePrint that discussions on the bill have been going on since January.
The Bill aims to ensure the creation and maintenance of a reliable Directory of active publications containing valid income tax returns.
“Many news organizations He Registered as per the current law, they are not publishing and distributing their work widely,” said a source familiar with the issue.
“Though they have a printing press, most of them are taking advantage of these positions which can be given to other people who are more active. There is a separate eligibility for digital journalists and it can be availed. Source added.
a report good In economic times The Bill states that “it is proposed to bring digital news portals at par with newspapers and ask them to register the entity with the Press Registrar General, which is equivalent to the prevailing registrar of newspapers in India.”
A draft of this bill was first made public in 2019 and has drawn criticism as it was seen as an attempt by the Modi government to regulate digital media, which is currently not subject to any registration.
The Bill will also remove the existing provisions relating to registration of books and matters connected therewith, freeing up the book publishing industry to a large extent, economic times The report said.
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