Bhubaneswar: Speaker Surama Padhy on Wednesday lifted the restrictions on carrying mobile phones to the press gallery of Odisha Assembly, following a boycott by journalists, covering the House sessions.
The decision was announced by Youth Affairs Minister Suryabanshi Suraj after a meeting between the Speaker and the protesting journalists. However, they have to put their phone on silence mode and cannot take photographs or do video recording from the press gallery. Instead the Information and Public Relations Department will provide adequate photos of Question Hour to media organisations.
The Speaker also announced an orientation programme for the journalists covering the proceedings of the House.
Earlier in the day, journalists staged a sit-in near the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the Assembly premises after being barred from carrying mobile phones inside the press gallery.
Though there was no official notification, debarring journalists from carrying mobile phones inside the House, they were given envelopes at the entrance and instructed to deposit their mobile phones before entering the press gallery. This move triggered strong opposition from mediapersons, who maintained that mobile phones are essential for real-time reporting.
The decision to restrict mobile phones followed the extensive social media sharing of images and videos depicting the scuffle between MLAs inside the House on March 11.
The protesting journalists claimed that the ban on mobile phones is an attempt to muzzle their voice and prevent them from reporting freely. Both the opposition Congress and the BJD supported the journalists’ argument.
A team of BJD leaders also visited the protesting journalists and expressed solidarity with them. BJD MLA and former minister Arun Kumar Sahoo strongly denounced the media restrictions and urged the Speaker to respect press freedom.
Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati, who has been suspended from the House for seven day for indiscipline, also criticised the action and stated that his party fully supported the protest by the journalists.
