UNI JAC rejects Subhash Chandra as Board Dir

New Delhi, Sep 26: The Joint Action Committee of the UNI Employees today vehemently rejected the induction of Zee Television Group Chairman Subash Chandra and associates into the Board of Directors of the United News of India (UNI).

Taking a serious note of the deal, the JAC and the General Body meeting of the UNI employees said the ''takeover'' of the 45-year-old news agency had been done in a brazen defiance of Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi's directive for deferring the decision by at least a month.

Mr Dasmunsi had said yesterday that he had discussions with Mr Chandra and UNI Board Chairman Manoj Kumar Sonthalia asking them to postpone the controversial decision for a month to enable the government to finalise its views in the matter.

The JAC resolved that it would further intensify its agitation and seek intervention of political leaders, including UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat and other prominent leaders and social activists.

The JAC also decided that it would initiate talks with prominent newspaper owners who are shareholders of UNI to block the deal.

''We fear that the takeover would spell doom for UNI which was established in 1961 under section 25 of the Companies Act and was meant to be run on cooperative lines,'' the committee said.

The JAC termed as hollow the assurances of the management that the basic character of the company would remain unchanged.

''The very fact that Mr Chandra and three of his associates have been transferred a controlling stake proves that the agency would be run as per the diktat of a single business house,'' it added.

UNI

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