The 40th foundation day of Manipur Press Club was observed at the club premises under the aegis of All Manipur Working Journalists Union (AMWJU) on Tuesday.Speaker of the Manipur Legislative Assembly, Th Lokeshor attended the function as Chief Guest, while, AMWJU president Wangkhemcha Shyamjai and Works Minister Dr Kh Ratankumar attended as president and Guest of honour respectively.Welcoming the dignitaries Sunzu BM,working committee member of AMWJU highlighted the role of press club across the world where social bodies can organise functions and press conferences and mould public opinion.Speaking on the occasion, Speaker of the Manipur Legislative Assembly, Th Lokeshor said that media plays a great role in bridging the gap between the Government and people. People are aware of the various programmes and policies taken up by the Government and other daily happening around the globe through the media. Without support from media, bringing development is not possible.“Since the media personals are playing a crucial role in changing the social mentality, they should perform their duty with a responsibility while giving information to the general public. They should always manage to provide the right and unbiased information to the people”, he said.Highlighting the importance of media in society, Works Minister Dr. Th Ratankumar appealed the media personals to focus more on objective reporting rather than subjective.He said that the journalists of the state have been able to showcase their professional talents in the national and international level. Government acknowledges the contribution of the journalists working amidst all odds and difficulties in the state. Government will provide all possible help for the welfare of the journalists, he maintained.AMWJU president Wangkhemcha Shyamjai said that the journalists in the state are dedicating for their service in an armed conflict zone state like Manipur despite low remuneration, several threats from both the state and non state actors. Amidst all odds and difficulties, journalists are making all out efforts to provide the right information to the people and the quality of the state journalists is also increasing as that of other scribes.“We are thankful to Manipur Government for the recent initiative of setting up a press Colony to accommodate the journalists and raising the Journalists pension of Rs 2000 to 4000. Support from the state will help improve the status of journalists in the state”, he said.
