Press Council sets up panel to study retrenchment of journalists during pandemic

The Press Council of India on Wednesday said it has set up a panel to study the retrenchment of journalists by various media groups during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The sub-committee comprises PCI members Gurbir Singh, L C Bhartiya, Prajnananda Chaudhuri, J S Rajput, and senior journalists P Sainath and Snehasis Sur.

The panel is seeking details from journalists who were retrenched during the pandemic between March 2020 and February 2021, a PCI statement said.

The PCI made it clear that the sub-committee's work of collection of data was purely an academic exercise and shall form part of the report.

"It is clarified that study being academic is not intended to provide any relief. Moreover, granting any relief on such matters is not within power and ambit of the Press Council of India," the statement said.

The panel has asked journalists who were retrenched during the pandemic to fill up an online form on the website of the PCI.