Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Muhammad Ali Durrani on Saturday said that neither the government nor Pemra has ever blocked the transmission of electronic channels anywhere in the country.
He made this statement in a meeting of the Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting which met with MNA Begum Rehana Aleem Mashhadi in the chair in the Parliament House to discuss the reported blockade of electronic channels.
The minister said some incidents, which were reported in the media might have occurred due to technical faults or dispute between the channels and the distribution service operators.
The committee appreciated the withdrawal of Pemra Ordinance by the government and recommended to chalking out a Code of Conduct in consultation with the Pakistan Broadcasters Association, which would be followed by broadcast industry, said a press release.
The Pemra chairman assured the committee that the Code of Conduct would be formulated after taking into confidence all the stakeholders and under the guidelines of Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting with the purpose of ensuring freedom of press and media. The committee observed that obscenity being projected in some channels, particularly from Lahore channels, should be discouraged and recommended to promote traditional culture of the four provinces.
It recommended to convening the meeting of Pakistan Broadcasters Association to evolve a balanced Code of Conduct acceptable to the broadcasters and the government.
The meeting was attended by MNAs, Begum Mehnaz Rafi, Miss. Gul-e-Farkhanda, Dr Noor Jehan Panezai, Ms Bushra Rehman, Qazi Abdul Quddus Rajar, Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, Mrs Shahida Akhtar Ali, Mrs Rukhsana Bangash, Ms Fauzia Habib, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Muhammad Ali Durrani and Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Tariq Azim.
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