Cabinet okays draft law to improve PIB operations

The cabinet yesterday approved in principle the draft of the Bangladesh Press Institute Bill, 2016, to give a complete legal shape to the Press Institute of Bangladesh (PIB) and make it more time-befitting alongside improving its operations.

The approval came from the regular weekly meeting of the cabinet held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

Briefing journalists after the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam said since the inception of the PIB on August 18, 1976, it has been operating only through a resolution. "So, the government feels the necessity of framing a law and that's why the draft law has been placed before the cabinet."

It also outlines that the main PIB office will be there in the capital while the government will be able to set up its branch offices outside the capital.

The cabinet secretary said there will be a 15-member Board of Directors for the PIB to be appointed by the government for two years with representation from eminent journalists, educationists, public relations experts and representatives from various journalists' bodies.

According to the draft law, he said that the main duties of the PIB would be to provide on duty training facilities to working journalists, mass media personnel, development and communication workers and persons related to media with real focus on training.

The cabinet approved in principle the draft of the 'Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) Bill, 2016' following the existing 1979 ordinance of the state-run news agency.

The cabinet secretary said there is no "gross deviation" from the existing ordinance, and the new law is going to be framed more or less following the 1979 ordinance.