India News | If Media Weakens, Democracy Will Also Become Weak: Raj PHED Minister

Jaipur, Apr 20 (PTI) Terming media as an invisible force, Rajasthan's PHED Minister Mahesh Joshi said on Wednesday that if it weakens, then democracy will also become weak.

"The media is called the fourth pillar of democracy, although no such pillar is mentioned in the Constitution. Yet the media keeps a close watch on the legislature, executive, and judiciary," he said while addressing the Annual General Meeting of All India Federation of PTI Employees' Unions.

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He said that the credibility of media has changed a lot in the last few years due to proliferation of electronic and social media.

Joshi said that democracy cannot be strengthened if the institutions on which democracy rests are weakened and asked mediapersons to unite and face the challenges before democracy boldly.

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Archana Sharma, chairperson of the Social Welfare Board, said that the nature of news has changed in the present context.

She said that mediapersons reported on dead bodies floating in the Ganga, the condition of people in hospitals and other places during the Covid pandemic, risking their lives while covering the news.

She said that it is necessary for everyone that the credibility and impartiality of news should be maintained.

Sharma said that the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan has always been sensitive about the interests of the media and mediapersons and gives priority to continuous dialogue with the media.

M S Yadav, general secretary of All India Federation of PTI Employees Unions, spoke about the challenges being faced by the media.

He said that immediate attention should be paid to the social security of journalists and non-journalist staff.

Addressing another session of the AGM, Minister of State for Technical Education Subhash Garg said that the Gehlot government works in the interest of all sections of society including journalists.

He said that the government has taken a major decision of reviving the old pension scheme for the state employees which will give social security to the employees. He said that other states should also implement the old pension scheme.

Garg said that the right of the media to criticize in a democracy should be upheld.

"It is

also being seen today that the parties which came to power by using social media are trying to restrict social media," he said.

Garg said that to protect democracy, it is necessary that the workers unions remain strong.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)