ABBOTTABAD, Feb 3: Principal Information Officer Ashfaq Gondal has said that two proposed drafts on the formation of “Press Council” and promulgation of “Press and Publication Ordinance” are going to be approved in the next meeting of the federal cabinet scheduled to be held on Tuesday.

Addressing the members of Abbottabad Press Club here on Saturday, he said the present government had never made any attempt to pressurise the press as President Gen Pervez Musharraf firmly believed in free press and freedom of speech.

However, he remarked that there was a dire need for check and balance on the press. The Press Council will improve the standard of journalism in the country, he claimed.

He said the mushroom growth of newspapers and news agencies with blank record was always a threat to the noble profession of journalism and like “quakes” these one-room newspapers and organizations were damaging the journalism profession on the one hand and encouraging anti-state activities on the other.

He said the draft of Press Council had been made by the supreme bodies of journalists in consultation with all those who mattered in the national affairs. He pointed out that the government would have no role in the affairs of this body as it would be controlled and managed by its Chairman who will be a retired judge of the Supreme Court or high court or capable to become the judge of apex bodies.

About Wage Board award, he said the government was trying to get it implemented by taking into account the interests of both owners and workers.

He donated Rs50,000 for the purchase of furniture for the local press club and also promised to provide computers.