KARACHI: Sindh Minister for Information Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has said that on the directives of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah had launched the People’s Media Support Programme (PMSP) under which all kind of relevant support would be provided to the media.
The provincial minister said that payment of liabilities to media owners under PMSP had already been started. Without naming anyone, he said that some people had said a lot that they would come up with a media support program but they had not done so till date, adding that only the PPP government had made Media Support Program a reality.
Shah said that besides launching the People’s Media Support Programme, assurances had been taken from media owners for two things; one was that they would not fire their employees and the other was the timely payments of the salaries of the employees.
Shah said that through People’s Media Support Programme actually the media workers and working journalists had been provided with security of job as well as security of timely payments of salaries.
He said that the process of legislation in this regard was also underway which would be completed soon. Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that the Sindh government attached as much importance to working journalists or other media workers as it did to its medical professional including doctors, nurses and paramedical staff.
He said that the Sindh government had never discriminated in this regard and had always considered people working in both the industries as front line heroes during this pandemic.
Shah said that freedom of media as well as the welfare of working journalists had always been a priority in every PPP government and added that the present Sindh government would extend all possible support to journalists.
“Like people associated with medical professionals, the Sindh government pays tribute to journalists for performing their duties in such difficult situations when we are facing a pandemic like this,” he added.
