Stushie among publishers over the cancellation of postal licenses of magazines.
Pune: – While the final run of Diwali issues of magazines is underway, the postal department has stopped posting many magazines at a discounted rate due to the non-availability of updated certificates from the Registrar of Newspapers (New Delhi).
The postal department issues license to the periodicals at a discounted rate after registering with the Registrar of Newspapers of India, New Delhi. In view of the present situation of the periodicals, this injustice should be removed, a demand has been made by the President of the Marathi Periodical Council, Dr Sagar Deshpande and General Secretary Bhalchandra Kulkarni in a statement to Pune Post Master General G. Madhumita Das. The notices have hampered the distribution of millions of copies of several periodicals in the city of Pune, adding to the already troubled periodicals.
Council President Dr Sagar Deshpande and General Secretary Bhalchandra Kulkarni also asked why such action is being taken only in Pune when there is no such action anywhere else in Maharashtra. Madhumita Das also pointed out that many cases have been lying in the office of the Registrar of Newspapers for the last two years and the work is very cold, no reply has been received, which is why many magazines have not been able to get updated certificates. Since both the postal department and the newspaper registration department belong to the central government, it is seen that such incidents happen frequently due to a lack of coordination among them. Publishers have to bear the brunt of this.
Speaking on the occasion, Madhumita Das said that such orders have been issued by the Delhi office of the postal department, but assured that she would try to provide more information and clarification in this regard. It was also pointed out that the action has not stopped even after discussing the matter with the Senior Superintendent of the Western Division of the Postal Department Mr Mukund Badve and Assistant Post Master General Mr Ishwar Patil for time to time.
The notices have also been issued to farmers, teenagers, agricultural marketing friends and Jeevan Shikshan, which are periodicals of the Government of Maharashtra, the consumption of which is around Rs 3 lakh. Apart from this, notices have been issued to Sadhana, Vanrai, Niropya, Corporate Citizen, Dilipraj Vritta, Hindubodh, Madhumitra, Yajnavalkya Parivar, Yogeshwar Varta, Nirmal Ranwara, Chanakya Mandal Parivar, Sugava and many others. Therefore, these magazines will have to post at commercial rates as they are denied discounts, which is out of reach. Newspapers have strongly demanded immediate revocation of the order issued by the Delhi Postal Department.