Journos again demand 9th wage board

Journalist leaders yesterday demanded that the government immediately announce the ninth wage board for journalists and press employees as their economic condition became intolerable due to price hike of essential items and continuous increase of house rent.

During a May Day discussion at union office in the capital's Jatiya Press Club, journalists' leaders said that the government officials and journalists had been enjoying almost same facilities for long.

But after the announcement of the last pay-scale, the journalist community has gone far behind in terms of salaries and benefits.

Journalists serve through their services in the media and not for mere bread and butter, rather for social dignity, they said.

Prime Minister's Media Adviser Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury addressed as the chief guest and Omar Faruque, secretary general of a faction of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ), spoke as the special guest. A faction of Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ) organised the discussion with its president Shaban Mahmud in the chair. The PM's media advisor called upon all the journalists to be united to realise their demands.