Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Saturday said his government would ensure total freedom of press and any effort to muzzle the media’s voice would not be tolerated.
“The previous government adopted a partisan attitude towards the media in the state. Only a few media houses, which had turned “His Master’s Voice”, were given government advertisements. On the other hand, attempts were made to suppress the media houses which did not toe the government line and were deprived of the advertisement. In fact, the previous government had issued an undeclared whip denying advertisements to certain media houses,” Majhi said at a function of a daily newspaper in Bhubaneswar.
Ascertaining that now a people’s government is in power, the chief minister said the partisan policy towards the media. He assured that his government would respect the freedom of Press.
“Ours is a people’s government and it will give due credence to the people’s voice. Now no attempt would be made to prevent the media from expressing its opinion,” the chief minister assured.