New wage board for journalists on cards: PM

New Delhi, Mar 22 (UNI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has promised to sympathetically look into the demand for setting up a new wage board for journalist and non-journalist employees of newspapers and news agencies.

He gave the assurance at a meeting here yesterday with a delegation of the Confederation of Newspaper and News Agency Employees Organisations.

The delegation also submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister in support of its demand for the constitution of a new wage board.

Dr Singh told the members of the delegation that he would discuss the matter with various ministries concerned.

The delegation members pointed out to Dr Singh that the last wage board was set up in 1994 and it submitted its report to the government in 2000.

The journalist and non-journalist employees were facing several hardships because there had been an inordinate delay in setting ip a new wage board for them. The delegation wanted that a deadline be set for the constitution of the new wage board.

The delegation also desired an end to the contract system in the newspaper industry.

The delegation included Confederation General Secretary M S Yadav and Secretary S N Sinha, UNI Workers Union President Mohan Lal Joshi, PTI Employees Federation's Amitabh Roy Chowdhury, All India Newspaper Employees Federation Vice President Santosh Kumar and CPI National Secretary D Raja.

UNI