Odisha bans entry of journalists to colleges, Pradhan says ‘inappropriate’

By PTI

BHUBANESHWAR: The Odisha authorities has banned the entry of journalists to colleges in some areas after information channels confirmed how college students had been poor in arithmetic, triggering a political row.

Hitting out on the state authorities over its resolution, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan mentioned the press, which is the fourth pillar of democracy, can’t be stopped from getting into a public establishment.

The Dhenkanal District Education Officer (DEO) on Saturday directed Block Education Officers and faculty headmasters to not enable unauthorised entry of journalists into colleges and lecture rooms, and to report such issues to the police.

An identical directive was additionally issued within the Kendrapara district. The authorities’s transfer got here after some information channels confirmed how college students had been in arithmetic — with class 5 pupils unable to remember easy tables, official sources mentioned.

“It is inappropriate to impose restrictions on media’s entry into school campuses. In a democratic setup, a school is a public institution. Media should not create disturbance in the process of learning, but the fourth pillar of democracy cannot be denied entry into campuses for the purpose of collecting news,” Pradhan mentioned.

BJP MP Aparajta Sarangi, who’s well-known for her work because the state’s college and mass schooling secretary, mentioned she was stunned with the directive.

“It is unfortunate and the order should be withdrawn immediately,” she mentioned. Senior Congress MLA Suresh Routray mentioned it was not the primary time that such restrictions had been imposed on journalists.

“They are yet to get entry into the assembly in the name of COVID-19. Journalists have been denied entry to the state secretariat for two years and also the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack,” he mentioned.

Defending the federal government, School and Mass Education Minister SR Dash mentioned the press has the correct to focus on wrongs, however reporters of some net portals had been getting into campuses with out permission and disturbing the environment of the colleges. Different journalist associations within the state additionally opposed the transfer, demanding its roll again.