Ladies and Gentlemen, it gives me a great pleasure to welcome you all to the 78th Annual General Meeting of your Society. It is indeed a proud moment for me to address you on this important annual occasion. Newspapers will remain vital to sustain democracy especially in these times of social media ascendancy. A shrunken newspaper industry would fragment the public discourse and weaken democracy itself. The print industry operates in a dynamic environment with readers’ needs and preferences changing continuously. In such an environment, it is imperative for publishers to innovate consistently and also engage and interact with their readers on a real-time basis. The activities of your Society for the last one year have been outlined in the Annual Report which is with you but I seek your indulgence to elaborate few issues which are of vital importance for the financial strength and effectiveness of the print media industry in the largest democracy of the world. This year was really event
Presidential Address :-
Ladies and Gentlemen, it gives me a great pleasure to welcome you all to the 78th Annual General Meeting of your Society. It is indeed a proud moment for me to address you on this important annual occasion. Newspapers will remain vital to sustain democracy especially in these times of social media ascendancy. A shrunken newspaper industry would fragment the public discourse and weaken democracy itself. The print industry operates in a dynamic environment with readers’ needs and preferences changing continuously. In such an environment, it is imperative for publishers to innovate consistently and also engage and interact with their readers on a real-time basis. The activities of your Society for the last one year have been outlined in the Annual Report which is with you but I seek your indulgence to elaborate few issues which are of vital importance for the financial strength and effectiveness of the print media industry in the largest democracy of the world. This year was really eventful in terms of the following: •Issuance of DAVP Advisories
•Demonetization
•Implementation of Goods & Services Tax
•Eligibility Certificate
DAVP vide its Advisory No. 11/0280/1617-MR&C dated 17.05.2017 stated that due to amendments in General Financial Rules (GFR) 2017 in respect of tender advertisements for procurement of goods and services, the need for publishing tender notices in newspapers for procurement of goods and services have been done away with and has been replaced with mandatory e-publishing of advertisements on Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP). This advisory was however withdrawn on 15.06.2017 by DAVP. The Advertisement Policy 2016 envisages no change in classification of Newspapers/ Journals in Small, Medium and Big categories respectively with circulation upto 25,000 copies, between 25,001 to 75,000 copies and circulation of 75,000 copies and above. Nevertheless, publications with a circulation of above 45,000 copies are required to furnish ABC/RNI Certificates. Your Society strongly believes a cut off figure of 45,000 of circulation is arbitrary and there appears no ground for arriving at this figure.As you are aware, the Indian newspaper business is heavily dependent on advertising revenue and demonetization has worsened the situation by squeezing spends across almost all categories of advertisers. Media in general and newspapers in particular are at an inflection point today. This is an apt time to support and strengthen the newspaper industry instead of subjecting it to taxation squeezes and attacks on revenue streams. Your Society is vigorously pursuing with the Government for reasonable fiscal and labour policies. In the liberalized economic environment in India, there is no reason for continuing with the statutory wage fixation for newspaper employees. Since no other industry has Wage Boards, there is no rationale for persisting with such Boards for the print media alone. Here again, I strongly appeal to Government of India to desist from constituting any more Wage Boards for both journalists and non-journalists employees in newspaper establishments. Goods and Services Tax (GST) came into force w.e.f. 1st July, 2017. The ‘newspapers’ have now been included in the definition of ‘Goods’ with Nil GST and are thus in the exempted category. Selling of space for advertisement in print media is included under the category of services and GST @5% is chargeable with full Input Tax Credit (ITC). The services by way of job work related to printing of newspapers is also taxable @ 5% with full Input Tax Credit (ITC). Now GST at 5% is leviable on newsprint under the new regime. On imported newsprint, basic Customs Duty is Nil but 5% IGST will be payable. In case of coated (LWC) newsprint mainly used by magazines 12% IGST is payable though Basic Customs Duty is Nil. On the raw materials viz. ink, plates and other services (etc.) GST at revised rates of 12%, 18% is payable. A delegation of INS has sought certain clarifications from the Commissioner and Co-convenor of Media & Entertainment Sectoral Working Group at Hyderabad on 17.07.2017 and a clarification on GST on selling of space for advertisement in print media has been issued by Ministry of Finance on 23.08.2017. The existing practice of issuance of Eligibility Certificate by RNI for import of newsprint has been replaced by submission of a self-declaration certificate by the publisher to the nearest regional/branch offices of the PIB who would authenticate the same within three working days.I strongly condemn the continued incidents of violence and attacks on offices and personnel of press in various parts of the country by the anti-social elements during the year under review. Such incidents are, undisputedly, serious threats to the freedom of press. I appeal to the State Governments and local law & order authorities to deal with such situations firmly with iron hand to ensure security and protection of the press. You will be happy to know that the work at INS Bombay Building Project is progressing well and offices are expected to be ready for occupation shortly. As I look back, my term as President of our Society has been very satisfying and I would like to place on record my sincere thanks and gratitude to Deputy President Ms.Akila Urankar, Vice President Mr. Jayant Mammen Mathew, Honorary Treasurer Mr. Sharad Saxena, Chairpersons/ Chairmen of all Regional Committee & sub-committees and of course all members of the Executive Committee for their support during the year. I also fondly remember with gratitude the whole-hearted support I received from all members of the Society, which made it possible to accomplish what we all jointly set out to achieve during the year. Before I conclude, I would like to specifically thank Mr. H.N. Cama and Mr. Naresh Mohan for their guidance and support. I also gratefully appreciate the hard work put in by the members of the staff at the INS Secretariat. Thank you once again for giving me an opportunity to lead the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) and through it, the Indian print media industry.
