Accreditation panel for Odisha journalists defunct for 19 years!

The Odisha Press Accreditation Committee (OPAC), responsible for granting official status to working journalists, has been non-functional for 19 years, leaving thousands of active media professionals without access to government offices and official information.

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As per Odisha Press Accreditation Rules, 1994, a new committee should be formed every two years. However, since 2004, no such committee has been constituted. In its absence, a select few journalists are allegedly receiving accreditation through non-transparent means, raising serious concerns about fairness and misuse.

Without official accreditation, many full-time, and ground-level journalists are being denied entry to important government premises, hindering news-gathering efforts and jeopardising press freedom in the State.

Currently, Odisha has around 9,000 working journalists, but only about 200 are officially accredited, including just 175 in Bhubaneswar. Meanwhile, over 100 journalists are waiting, their applications pending for years.

The lack of a proper committee has allegedly resulted in unqualified individuals receiving accreditation, while deserving professionals remain sidelined. Several journalist unions have raised this issue, demanding immediate action and a fair, transparent process.

As per the Odisha Press Accreditation Rules, individuals who have worked as professional journalists for more than five years in a media organisation registered with the Information and Public Relations (I&PR) Department may apply for accreditation.

Depending on the outreach or scale of the concerned media house, a certain number of journalists are granted accreditation. Apart from the state-level, some journalists are also granted accreditation at the district, sub-division, and block levels.

According to the existing rules and regulations, an Accreditation Committee will be formed comprising representatives and editors from some recognised organisations of national-level working journalists. The term of this committee will be two years.

If, for any reason, the committee is not reconstituted after its term ends, its tenure may be extended by one more year at most.

As per the accreditation rules, even if a working journalist is not currently employed in a media house, they may still apply for accreditation as a freelance journalist if they have worked full-time for more than 20 years in any recognised media house.

“Accreditation is not a government-controlled affair. An independent committee decides who accreditation for freelancing is to be accorded. Several states in the country have similar provisions. When I had raised this issue in the Press Council, many became perturbed, asking how such a state is pulling on,” senior journalist Prasanna Mohanty said to OTV.

Reported By: Swati Jena, Laxminarayan Kanungo