QUETTA, Oct 21: Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Mir Yousuf Ali has agreed to double the provincial advertisement budget, according to an announcement by the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) after a luncheon meeting with the chief minister on Tuesday, said a press release of the society.

The chief minister acceded to a demand by APNS President Arif Nizami for a 100 per cent increase in the provincial advertisement budget and promised equitable distribution of government advertisements to publications based in the province.

He also directed the information department to give weightage to local publications. He agreed that an APNS committee should coordinate with the provincial government to sort out problems which arise in the formulation and execution of media policy.

The chief minister approved the proposal for inter-provincial exchanges of editors and journalists.

He also announced the appointment of a media liaison officer in Islamabad to resolve their problems.

The chief minister, on a request by the APNS, ordered restoration of the declaration of the daily Inqilab.

Earlier, the APNS executive committee discussed the situation of the newspaper industry in Balochistan and the problems faced by the publications in the province.

In a resolution, it condemned what it called the increasing trend of blackmailing in a section of the press and stated that the APNS completely disassociates itself from the malpractices of blackmailing, press raids on private concerns and harassment of citizens of the country by the “bhatta mafia.”