shri vinod sharma - Rajya Sabha

and the views. You don't want the news to be editorialised which is happening. I
think there is a lot of mix up between the news and the views. When the news
is printed, most of the correspondents, when they write particular stories, mix their
views with the news and it looks as if it is a kind of editorial which is going in
news.
Secondly, you have said that the Parliament and the Legislatures have to
codify their privileges. This is not happening over the years. There had been
committees of Parliament. There had been the Committee of Dr. Karan Singh which
had gone into it. There had been the Committee of Mr. Chandra Shekhar also.
There have been committees. But, I think, the Parliament and the Legislatures have
to think about it that they have to codify their privileges. The Press Council of India
has, of course, a kind of code of conduct for the Press. It is there. I think, by and
large, the Press is trying to observe that. At the same time, the Parliament, both
the Houses, as also the Members of Parliament have to think whether they should
codify their privileges so that the people are aware about the privileges that they do
have because we think that they have now unbound kind of privileges.
Now, I would request Mirnal Pandeyji to throw some light on the issues
from her experience in the newspapers for such a long time. You have observed
the Parliament and the reporting through the reporters who are working with you and
whom you are sending to the Parliament. I would like you to take up from where
Mr. Ram has left and enlighten us with your views.
SHRIMATI MRINAL PANDEY: Thank you, Mr. Vijay. Hon. Deputy Chairman, the
Secretary-General and all my friends on the dais and in the hall, I am very happy to
hear the speech of the hon. Chairman because he, in a way, put the finger on the
nerve that has been throbbing for some time; and I am also glad that Mr. Ram took
it further and connected it with reporting in Indian languages. I often use the word
"vernacular" and people tell me "vernacular" is a pejorative and I should not use the