Punjab Ensures Complete Press Freedom, Pays Rs. 840 Million in Dues: Minister Azma Bukhari
Lahore (PR) – Punjab’s Minister for Information, Azma Zahid Bukhari, has said that the media in Punjab enjoys complete freedom and that dues worth Rs. 840 million have already been paid to newspapers. She stated that advertisements to media houses that fail to pay staff salaries will be stopped.
She was speaking at a meeting of the Punjab Committee of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), chaired by Ayaz Khan. The meeting was attended by CPNE President Kazim Khan, Irshad Ahmad Arif, Ejaz-ul-Haq, Director General Public Relations Punjab Ghulam Saghir Shahid, and other senior members.
Participants expressed deep concern over the current state of press freedom in the country. CPNE Punjab Chairman Ayaz Khan said that such restrictions were not seen even during martial law regimes. CPNE President Kazim Khan described the situation as severe censorship, adding that “even thinking freely feels dangerous now.”
It was revealed that action is underway to cancel declarations of over 10,000 dummy newspapers. Currently, 314 national and regional newspapers are receiving advertisements. According to DGPR, the system for issuing ads and processing payments has been made fully online.
Azma Bukhari clarified that the Punjab government is not withholding dues, but in line with recent recommendations, advertising will be suspended for outlets that fail to pay salaries. She also announced plans to expand the Journalist Support Fund, issue health cards to journalists, and include media workers in the upcoming Journalist Housing Society Phase II, for which balloting is scheduled in September.
The meeting also proposed that CPNE should hold monthly seminars on press freedom and utilize social media tools such as podcasts and vlogs to amplify their message. Suggestions were made to initiate third-party audits for media houses to verify payment claims—similar to the model used by the Sindh government.
Senior CPNE leaders emphasized that despite a suffocating environment and increasing repression, journalists continue to raise their voices with courage. “Even if we have only 30% freedom today, it would be unwise to lose it while chasing 100%,” one member noted. The DGPR Punjab confirmed that as per approval of the Punjab cabinet,government tenders will also be issued to regional newspapers, while 95% of payments to electronic media have also been shifted online.
The meeting was also attended by Owais Razi, Zubair Mahmood, Fahad Safdar, Aslam Mir, Syed Masoor Zanjani, Zia Tanoli, Usman Ghani, Irfan Athar Qazi, Safdar Ali Khan, Zulfiqar Ali Rahat, Waqas Tariq, Imtiaz Rohani, Asad Rohani, Shehzad Amir, Farukh Shahbaz Warraich, and Nadeem Nisar.
Source: RMNP/CPNE
