India's Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur defended India's prevailing press freedom principles.
The [Indian] government does not subscribe to the views and country rankings of the World Press Freedom Index published by [the] foreign NGO ‘Reporters Without Borders’, Thakur said, replying to a question posed by Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) parliamentarian Adala Prabhakar Reddy in the Lok Sabha earlier.
Namely, Reddy asked Thakur if the federal government was aware of India’s falling rank on the World Press Freedom Index, steps taken to promote free and independent journalism in the country, and others.
When clarifying India's stance, Thakur said that New Delhi does not agree with the conclusions drawn by this organization for various reasons, pointing to its very low sample size, and the fact that the NGO carries little or no weight regarding the fundamentals of democracy, in addition, it uses a methodology which is questionable and non-transparent.
Concerning steps taken to promote free and independent journalism, the minister noted that the Press Council of India (PCI), a statutory autonomous body, was set up to preserve freedom of the press and enhance the standards of newspapers and news agencies countrywide.
Thakur went on to emphasize that the PCI examines complaints filed by the media regarding any curtailment of press freedom, and physical assault/attack on journalists under Section 13 of the Press Council Act.
The PCI is also empowered to take suo-motu cognizance on critical issues concerning freedom of the press and safeguarding its high standards, he added.