Press Council Of India Takes Suo Motu Cognizance On 'Lay Off' In 'The Hindu' Mumbai Office [Read Press Release]

The Press Council of India on Monday took suo-motu cognizance of notice of termination given to over 20 journalists working at 'The Hindu' newspaper's Mumbai edition in case they do not resign.

The Press Council of India Chairman Justice CK Prasad has noted with concern that a large number of journalists employed with The Hindu working at the Mumbai Bureau have been asked to resign from their position.

The press release states-

"It has come to the notice that the management of the newspaper is not taking recourse to the terms and conditions by which they are governed and the terms and conditions of their appointment excluded the application of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 for redressal of their grievances rendering them remediless."

While taking suo-motu cognizance of the case, PCI has called for comments from the Editor, The Hindu and Regional General Manager, The Hindu Mumbai.

The Hindu Mumbai was launched almost five years ago on November 28, 2015 and as of today a majority of the team has been asked to resign, while the number of journalists that still remain with the Chennai based English daily's Mumbai edition is in single digits.

Twenty of the journalists who have been asked to resign have written to group Chairman N Ram, LV Navaneeth, CEO and Suresh Nambath, Editor seeking clarity over "social media posts and word-of-mouth speculation" about the loss of several jobs at The Hindu's Mumbai edition.

The letter states that the aggrieved journalists had no official intimation about the so called termination or forced resignation-

"All of the undersigned wanted to work at The Hindu, as it has been considered the ideal workplace for Indian journalists, in fact where journalists are well respected and editorial freedoms are a given. The principles on which The Hindu has operated in the past is what should apply to us as a team now. For a news organisation that prides itself on reporting labour laws and violations of the same in a robust manner we appeal to you to clarify the situation to us in writing."

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