Responding to a question about India’s press freedom ranking, the Narendra Modi government has said that it’s committed to ensure the right to free speech and that the country has a robust press, reflected in the rise in the number of registered periodicals and private TV channels in the last 10 years.

An unstarred question by Congress’s Kanyakumari MP Vijay Vasanth had asked whether the government noticed a decline in India’s press freedom index, the details if that was the case, the action taken, and whether the press freedom index ranked India 159 among 180 countries this year.

India had jumped two spots in the annual press freedom ranking by Reporters Without Borders this year. The Modi government had earlier dismissed the annual rankings due to its “questionable” methodology. This was a point repeated by Union information and broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday in response to Vasanth’s question. “Some organisations have attempted evaluation of press freedom using very low sample size and with little or no understanding of our country and its vibrant democracy. Such organisations and their methodology are questionable and not reliable,” he said.

Vaishnaw told the Lok Sabha that the government is “committed to ensure the right to freedom of speech and expression enshrined under the Article 19 of the Constitution of India” and that the country “has a robust and flourishing press”. “This is reflected in the fact that during the last 10 years from 2014-15 till date, the number of registered periodicals has gone up 43.9 percent from 1,05,443 to 1,51,734. Similarly, the number of private satellite TV channels has also significantly gone up during this period from 821 to 910 which includes 393 news channels.”

The minister further stated that the Press Council of India had been set up under the Press Council Act, 1978, to look at issues concerning press freedom. “Similarly, the freedom of press in electronic media is ensured through a self-regulatory mechanism under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.”

“The Cable Television Network (Amendment) Rules, 2021, provides that complaints relating to violation of the Programme Code are to be addressed by a three-tier grievance redressal mechanism. Also, for content of publishers of news and current affairs on digital media, the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 prescribed a code of ethics to be adhered to by such publishers.” 

The minister said the Ministry of Home Affairs had also issued an advisory to states for the safety of journalists on October 20, 2017, to strictly enforce the laws to ensure the safety of mediapersons. 

Meanwhile, in a response to a starred question – by BJP’s Jalgaon MP Smita Uday Wagh and BJP’s Durg MP Vijay Baghel – about the menace of fake news, minister Vaishnaw pointed to “statutory and institutional mechanisms”, adding that the Press Council of India had adjudicated five complaints of fake news linked to Maharashtra from 2021 to this year.