The government on Thursday told Parliament that it does not agree with the conclusions drawn by 'Reporters Without Borders' in the W⭕orld Press Freedoౠm Index that ranked India 150th among 180 nations.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, said the government did not agree with the conclusions drawn by the organization for various reasons including "very low sample size, little or no weightage to fundamentals of democracy, adoption of a methodology which is questionable and non-transparent".
The government on Thursday told Parliament that it does not agree with the conclusions drawn by 'Reporters Without Borders' in the W⭕orld Press Freedoౠm Index that ranked India 150th among 180 nations.
Informati൩on and Broadcast﷽ing Minister Anurag Thakur, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, said the government did not agree with the conclusions drawn by the organization for various reasons including "very low sample size, little or no weightage to fundamentals of democracy, adoption of a methodology which is questionable and non-transparent".
Thakur was responding to separate questions🌜 put by Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge an𒈔d AAP member Sanjay Singh.
The minister said the Government was committed to ensuring the ri𒅌ght to freedom of speech and expression enshrined under Article 19 of the Constitu🐭tion.
Thakur said the Press Council of In🧸dia (PCI) has been set up under the Press Council Act, 1978 mainly to pre༺serve the freedom of the press and improve the standards of newspapers and news agencies in the country.
He said the PCI looks into the complaints filed 'by the Press' regarding curtailment of press fr🍃eedom.
Thakur said𝕴 the PCI was also empowered to take Suo moto cognizance in matters on the pressing issues concerning freedom of the Pressဣ and safeguarding of its high standards.
In response to Kharge’s question on the arr𒊎est of journalists, the minister said the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) does not maintain data separately on attacks on jou🦋rnalists.
According to the World Press Freedom Index, released in May, India's ranking dropped to 150th position f♒rom last year’s 142nd rank among 180 nations.
(Inputs from PTI)