Complaint to PM works,govt cuts red tape for foreign media

The move,in line with the government’s thinking on projecting India’s image abroad,will facilitate the entry and working of international media organisations in India,sources said. As the India Story unfolds,the government feels it must be “receptive” and “open” to the international media.

PIB accreditation is essential for a foreign correspondent to cover government events and access government offices.

Indian missions abroad have been sent circulars over the last two days announcing the facility,which takes off with immediate effect.

The move resulted from a coordinated effort by the Ministries of External Affairs,Home and Information & Broadcasting,under the supervision of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The “systemic change”,sources said,was prompted by a complaint Japanese journalist Susumu Arai of the Yomiuri Shimbun made to the PM at his official media interaction on May 24.

“There is a big problem getting PIB accreditation and it took me 20 minutes to get into this venue,” Arai told Singh. “Even for covering Parliament it takes six months to get accreditation.”

The PM had responded,“I am very sorry to hear this. I will certainly ask the relevant minister to look into it.”

Reached for a reaction on Friday evening,Arai declined. “I can’t give you a comment on this as I belong to a media organisation,” said the veteran Japanese journalist who got his PIB accreditation after waiting for almost 10 months,soon after he raised the issue with the PM.

Within days of the incident,National Security Adviser Shivshanker Menon had met with top officials to discuss the delays in issuing accreditations. Sources said the PMO was shocked to know that applications were pending for up to 42 months in some cases,and issued instructions to clear the backlog.