Why in the News
The Press Council Act, 1978 reserves 13 seats on the Press Council of India (PCI) for newspaper editors and working journalists, yet the media watchdog has run for nearly a year without a single one. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B Ministry) has not notified the names the PCI nominated, and says the notification is at the final stage.
What is the Press Council of India, and who sits on it?
- What it is: The PCI is the country’s key media watchdog, a statutory body under the Press Council Act. Like a bar council for lawyers, it lets the press largely judge its own standards.
- Size and term: The Act provides for a chairperson and 28 members, each serving a three-year term.
- Press members: Most seats go to people from newspapers:
- six newspaper editors;
- seven working journalists other than editors;
- six newspaper owners or managers;
- one representative of news agencies.
- Other members: Five Members of Parliament (MPs) and three nominees: the University Grants Commission (UGC) for education and science, the Bar Council of India for law, and the Sahitya Akademi for literature and culture.
- The takeaway: The Act puts practising journalists at the core of the Council, so a Council without them judges the press without the press.
Why is the Council at half strength?
- Term lapse: The previous Council’s term ended in October 2024, and the 15th Council is still not fully constituted.
- Seats filled: Only 14 of the 28 members are in place: the MPs, the institutional nominees and the newspaper owners.
- Nominations made: The PCI has already nominated all the editors and journalists under Section 5(3)(a) of the Act, in batches since last December.
- Notification pending: Section 5(5) requires the Union government to notify nominees’ names in the Official Gazette. Each nomination takes effect only from that date.
- Repeated reminders: The PCI has written to the Ministry three times since May. Its latest letter said nominees had voiced concern over the delay.
Why does the vacancy matter?
- Chairperson gap too: Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, a retired Supreme Court judge, finished her tenure last December. She was reappointed in April after a vacancy of about four months.
- Council’s own warning: In July, the PCI told the Ministry that notification was “essential” for the Council to become “fully representative and functional”.
- Meetings at half strength: The Council last met in June, and another meeting is scheduled later this month.
- Raised in Parliament: In February, a Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP warned of serious implications and urged the government to appoint a chairperson and constitute the 15th Council.
Challenges
- Executive holds the last step: The Union government’s notification decides when nominees join, so ministry delay can stall a body meant to stand apart from government.
- No deadline in the Act: Section 5(5) sets no time limit for the notification, so delay carries no legal consequence.
- Weak sanctions: The PCI can warn, admonish or censure a newspaper under Section 14, but cannot impose a penalty.
- Print-only remit: The Council covers newspapers and news agencies, not television or digital news.
Way Forward
- Time-bound notification: Parliament should amend Section 5(5) so names are notified within a fixed period of nomination.
- Advance nominations: The PCI should nominate the next Council’s members well before the current term ends.
- Timely chairperson selection: The selection committee should choose a new chairperson before the incumbent’s tenure ends.
- Wider media remit: The I&B Ministry should bring digital news publishers under a reformed press council.
Conclusion
The PCI’s law makes working journalists the heart of press self-regulation, yet an administrative step has kept them out. Whether the pending notification arrives before the Council’s next meeting will decide if it can judge press standards with its full membership.
Key numbers
- Nomination batches: six editors in December 2025, six working journalists in May 2026, and the seventh in July 2026 (PCI documents).
- PCI letters seeking notification: May 25, July 2 and September 9, 2026.
Matching Previous Year Question
“[2026] With reference to organisations under the Government of India: Sl. No.Organisation | Function | Controlling Union Ministry 1. Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) | To coordinate between various law enforcement agencies | Ministry of Home Affairs 2. Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) | To investigate complex corporate frauds | Ministry of Finance 3. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) | To preserve values in public life and ensure the health of the national economy | Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension In how many of the above rows are the given details correctly matched? (a) 1 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) None ANSWER: A”
