Media representatives quit panel

 Online edition of India's National Newspaper

Tuesday, Jul 13, 2010

Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: All the print media representatives including the President of the Sports Journalists Federation of India have resigned from the Commonwealth Games Media Accreditation Sub-Committee, citing arbitrariness in the functioning of the panel, headed by Tarlochan Singh, Rajya Sabha MP.
Five members of the panel, S. Sabanayakan (SJFI President), Harpal Singh Bedi ( UNI), S. Kannan ( Mail Today) and K.P. Mohan and V. Sudershan ( The Hindu) resigned after the Organising Committee (OC) Press Operations indefinitely postponed a meeting of the committee scheduled for Monday.
Mr. Sabanayakan informed the Chairman of the Committee that the Federation would no longer be involved in the accreditation process.
The Press representatives questioned the manner in which accreditations have been granted to more than 300 organisations without the panel members coming to know about it and the failure of the OC to convene a meeting of the accreditation panel for more than a month.
The Editors Guild of India, meanwhile, took note of the development and expressed its dismay over the manner in which accreditations were being done for the Games.
Meanwhile, one of the foreign experts brought in to help the OC manage the media affairs has also resigned. Tony Mariadass, put in his papers on July 2.