PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court was informed on Thursday by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government that most of the newspapers were not paying minimum wages to their employees in the province and in several cases meagre salaries of Rs5000 to Rs10,000 per month were paid to them.
A single-member bench of Justice Mohammad Ijaz Khan voiced concern over the state of affairs in media industry wondering how an individual could survive with a paltry salary of Rs5,000 or Rs10,000.
The bench was hearing a contempt plea filed by Council of Newspapers Editors (CPNE), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, against non-clearance of outstanding dues by the government on account of advertisements despite giving assurance to court in 2024.
During previous hearing on July 16, the bench had taken notice of alleged non-payment of minimum wages and delay in payment of salaries to employees in media industry and sought a detailed report from provincial government in that regard.
CPNE assures court to follow law on payment of wages
The bench observed that before passing any order, it would provide an opportunity to media establishment to comply with the law guaranteeing government fixed minimum wages to employees.
The KP advocate general, Shah Faisal Uthmankhel, submitted the report on behalf of Provincial Information Secretary Matiullah Khan and stated that a total of 113 newspapers were on provincial media list, out of which 56 provided details about the number of employees and minimum and maximum wages given to them.
About the non-payment of outstanding dues to newspapers/members of CPNE on account of advertisements, he said that the advertisement section of information and public relations department had almost completed the process of cross-checking of cheques, which was to be issued to the petitioner with its record and the release of the same was likely to be made shortly.
He submitted that the statistics so far collected by the information department from print and electronic media establishments was, prima facie, presenting a shocking situation, as most of the newspapers were paying their employees meagre salaries of Rs5000, Rs8,000 and Rs10,000 per month, which was far below the prescribed minimum wages notified by the provincial government under KP Payment of Wages Act, 2013.
He pointed out that so far 17 complaints had been received from employees of those establishments claiming their outstanding dues.
“When confronted with the aforesaid alarming position, Mr Tahir Farooq, President, Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE) and the learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that they would honestly and definitely ensure the compliance with the law relating to the payment of minimum wages to their employees by all print and electronic establishment and in this regard. Mr Tahir Farooq further stated that, before the next date of hearing, he would undertake an extensive exercise on the said subject and would place the outcome thereof before this court,” the bench stated in its order.
Petitioner’s counsel Shahid Naseem Chamkani stated that apart from the amount presently under process for release, the petitioner-newspapers were entitled to certain additional amount, which was yet to be processed-cum-released to the petitioner’s establishment.
The bench fixed Sep 7 for next hearing, observing that the grievances of the petitioner would be addressed comprehensively and once for all.
The secretary information in his report stated that as per section 6(4) of KP Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration Act, 2013, each publisher or owner of newspaper while applying for declaration of a periodical should declare on affidavit that he/she would pay salaries to employees as per wage board award.
However, he stated that the details received from various newspapers showed that most of the employees were paid salaries even less than the minimum wages fixed by the government. Moreover, he stated that the mode of payment was being executed in cash rather than bank transactions.
He requested the court to issue appropriate directives as to whether to release advertisement payments/liabilities may be disbursed to those newspapers/media organisations, which had failed to furnish the requisite information sought by the department and/or against whom claims of unpaid wages and other dues had been received from journalists, or whether such payments may be released only after resolution of the issues.
CPNE had filed a petition in 2023 wherein the high court was requested to declare as illegal non-payment of outstanding advertisement bills to the tune of around Rs1.8 billion since past several decades by the government.
Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2026