'How can we discriminate in a democracy'?: Shiv Sena MP raises issues of press freedom in Rajya Sabha

On Monday, during zero hour in the Rajya Sabha, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi raised questions about the freedom of the press.

The Indian Express reported that Chaturvedi cited the group of ministers formed last year to plan "government communication" on "big narratives".

Chaturvedi said: “As per the reports that have come in the newspapers, a GoM was formed when nine ministers were asked to come forward with suggestions on how to neutralise some media agencies which were speaking up against the government, not against the nation but against the government, and how to neutralise them and how to promote those agencies which are talking pro-government."

She asked how the central government could "discriminate in a democracy" between agencies that "speak up for the cause of the people of the country and speak against the government and question them”. Express reported that Chaturvedi asked whether this went against "the freedom of speech as well as press freedom that has been consistently sliding down as far as India is concerned".

Hindustan Times first reported on the a report prepared by this group in December 2020, listing some of the “narratives” that the Centre was keen on promoting – schemes like Aatmanirbhar Bharat, Digital India, Skill India, and Swachh Bharat. The report, parts of which have been accessed by Newslaundry, also claimed that the Centre “consulted” with journalists and editors in this endeavour.