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UNI resumes its news services in Karnataka after government intervention

UNI resumes its news services in Karnataka after government intervention

Bengaluru, June 17 (UNI) A day after UNI suspended its Kannada and English wire services in Karnataka yesterday, in protest against the BBMP’s move to evict the news agency from its premises in Vasanthnagar building existing since 1986, the news agency resumed its news services, after it received assurances from Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javdekar and Karnataka Revenue Minister R V Deshpande on Monday.
The two leaders assured that there will be no interruption on UNI wire service operations in Karnataka.
Following positive intervention by Javadekar and assurance from Deshpande, supporting the cause of the national news agency, the UNI management, keeping in view a broader national interest of dissemination of news and information for the public, and the interest of its Kannada subscribers, decided to resume its news service from from Karnataka, today.
Member of the Board of UNI Mr Sagar Mukhopadhyay and other Senior Journalists of the UNI in Karnataka met Deshpande and apprised him of recent developments, today.
On Sunday, the United News of India had temporarily shut down its English and Kannada news services and other operations in Karnataka to protest against the harassment and ‘Attack on the Press’ by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
The management was forced to take the extreme step following the BBMP’s constant threats that the news agency will be evicted from UNI Building in Vasanthnagar in the city on the ground that the lease period of the land on which UNI had constructed the building, had expired.
If the news agency refused to vacate on its own it will be evicted, a top BBMP official who had visited the office informed the local in-charge of UNI, Bangalore.
The UNI building in Bengaluru was built by UNI and was inaugurated by the then President of India Gyani Zail Singh in 1986.
Though, the news agency had been constantly requesting the BBMP to renew the lease agreement of the land that ended in 2013, since 2010, the BBMP had not acted to support the National News Agency.
Instead, the BBMP officials started harassing the local staff, including the Journalists, of the UNI warning that they will be evicted, without giving a proper notice or any Government Order that they claimed in their support.
In the wake of these developments, the UNI management had decided to temporarily halt the news service from Karnataka to protest against the attitude of the ’anti Press’ BBMP officials.
Meanwhile, UNI had launched its Kannada News Wire Service in December 2018, a first such attempt by a national News Agency in the country to serve Kannada Print and Visual Media, besides the State and Union Governments.
Former Chief Minister and leader of opposition in Karnataka Assembly B S Yeddyurappa on Sunday urged Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to ensure that the building land lease of UNI in the city is extended by another 30 years and condemned the harassment meted out by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to UNI journalists and officials there.
The former Chief Minister said that UNI was a reputed national news agency and a non-profitable organisation.
Mr Yeddyurappa had said that it was shame that BBMP officials for harassing the UNI management which amounted to ‘Attack on the Press’.
‘’I demand that the lease period should be extended by another 30 years. But the BBMP officials giving a three day notice for eviction of such reputed organisation from its building is nothing but shame,’’ he had said.
‘’I speak on behalf of my media friends, if the government tried to evict UNI from its own building, BJP will launch a major fight in support of the news agency. The Chief Minister should immediately respond and understand the problems faced by UNI and solve its building issue,’’ Mr Yeddyurappa had said.
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