Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s move to demonetise high value bills has hit Manipur’s print media as newspaper publishers and distributers decided to halt publications from Friday.
The decision is allegedly caused by the acute shortage of currency preventing the media houses from carrying out business particularly for exchanges with the hawkers following the November 8 currency ban.
Seeking an alternative arrangement, from the side of the government, the All Manipur Newspaper Sales and Distributors Association and All Manipur Newspaper Publishers Associationa organised a sit-in-protest at Imphal’s Keisampat area on Friday.
General Secretary Ajit Wangkhemcha of All Manipur Newspaper Sales and Distributors Association said the resolution to stop publication of daily papers was taken during a meeting at the office of the daily newspaper Huyen Lanpao on Thursday night.
Unless the government suggested “means” to handle the hardship faced by the hawkers and the media houses and others involved, no dailies will be published, he said.
The meeting was held after certain banks in the state refused to accept scrapped currency. The media houses are facing acute shortage shortage of money preventing them from carrying out regular circulation of newspapers.
The cash-crunch is also preventing the newspaper distributors from paying newspaper offices.
The publishers have urged the centre to include media houses in the list of exceptions allowed to transact in the demonetised notes till November 24 midnight.
(Feature image source: PTI)