Islamabad, the 19th December, 2014:  17th meeting of the Standing Committee on Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage was held today at 10:00 a.m. in Committee Room No.7, Parliament House, Islamabad. The meeting was presided over by Ms. Marvi Memon, MNA/Chairperson of the Standing Committee.

The Standing Committee offered “FATEHA” for the Teachers, Students and Army men who martyred in the Army Public School, Peshawar. The Standing Committee also strongly condemned the militant attack on Army Public School at Warsak Road, Peshawar.

The agenda of the meeting was to discuss “The role of information Officers in the M/o Commerce; M/o Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics and Privatization; M/o Information Technology & Telecommunication; M/o Petroleum & Natural Resources and to create conducive environment for socio-economic development”.
   
The Committee was briefed about the role of Information Officers in the above mentioned Ministries by Principle Information Officer (PIO) M/o Information, Broadcasting & National Heritage and the concerned Information Officers of the Ministries. The Committee was also briefed on the achievements of the said Ministries regarding socio-economic development and its projection to media through their Public Relation Department.

The Committee recommended that the achievements of the said Ministries should be projected and advertised in the Media in such a way that a common man could easily understand its impact. The Ministries may also develop its own Twitter and Facebook handle and update its websites on daily basis. All the Ministries and Departments may depute a spokesperson. The Committee also recommended for developing strong linkages among Ministries and their Information Officers.

The Committee also discussed the role of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) which should to take action against the Media, airing live coverage of tragic incidents, on airing talk shows against the ideology of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The Committee was told by the Acting Chairman PEMRA that the PEMRA took action against the Media as per PEMRA rules on these types of violations.

Mr. Muhammad Tallal Chaudry, Ms. Parveen Masood Bhatti, Mr. Ghulam Bibi Bharwana, Ms. Marriyum Aurangzeb, Ms. Leila Khan, Ms. Naeema Kishwer Khan, MNAs attended the meeting. Dr. Musadik Malik, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister will attend the meeting. The meeting was also attended by the senior officers of M/o Information, Broadcasting & National Heritage and its attached Departments, M/o Commerce, M/o Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics and Privatization; M/o Information Technology & Telecommunication; and M/o Petroleum & Natural Resources.