Interesting bit of news here. Barring officials from speaking to thepress, without the official say so, is also pretty common in thiscountry. I wonder if the GOA has protection for whistle-blowers. Ofcourse, here too, inspite of laws protecting whistle-blowers, theystill get penalized. _________________________Officials barred from talking on policy issuesBy A Staff Reporter GUWAHATI, June 1 – The State Government today ordered its employeesnot to speak to the electronic media on "policy issues". The ordercoincides with a decision to suspend a senior government official forgiving an interview to a television channel yesterday. The decision isbeing seen as a move by the Tarun Gogoi-led government to avoid someserious embarrassment that it had to encounter over the past fewmonths with officials going on air complaining about their seniors. "Officials have been barred from talking to the electronic mediawithout permission," announced Minister of State for Finance andPlanning and Development Himanta Biswa Sarma this afternoon afteremerging from a meeting between the Chief Minister and governmentemployees at the Chief Minister's office here. He also announced theState Government's decision to suspend Sankardevnagar (Hojai) SDO RamaPhukan for giving an interview to a television channel without properauthorisation. Sarma said that there is nothing new in the order. "Rule 16 of theState Government Service Rules do not permit government employees totalk to the press without permission," he reiterated, hastening to addthat the officials are not barred from speaking to the press onroutine matters. "We have not stopped them from speaking within the bounds of the Rightto Information Bill," Sarma said. "They are bound to part withinformation that come within the ambit of the Act." He said thattoday's decision was taken in view of the trend among lower levelofficials to speak out on issues that reflect government policy. "Alot of interviews have been given during the last one year by personswho do not know the complete facts," he said. The Minister said that the State Government would soon designatedistrict-level spokespersons to speak to the media on importantissues. At present Ripun Bora, a junior minister, is the only officialgovernment spokesman. _______________________________________________ Assam mailing list [email protected] http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam
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