Radio and newspaper play important roles in any country. They give information to people. has been ruled by various kings for a long time who practiced dictatorship. For this reason, the media sector of was oppressed for a long time. King Gyanendra came to power in 2002 and in October 9, 2005, he declared a new law for the media under which journalists would have a jail sentence for two years and had to pay around $7000 for defamation. In addition, the FM radio stations and newspaper in were subjected to pay high royalty and postal registration charge.
The new government has decided to reduce the royalty and postal registration charges on Radio stations and newspapers. I am quoting from the report published in nepalnews.com:
“The government had on July 12, when Dr Mahat presented the annual budget for the fiscal year 2006/06, announced to bring down the FM royalty and postal charge of newspapers to 50 percent. Mahat said that the decision would be helpful in making the FM radios and newspapers sustain economically.”
In the latest budget of presented on last Wednesday, the Finance Minister declared that the royalty and postal registration charge will be reduced by 50%. At present, there are 56 radio stations in out of which 40 are operational.
This is very good news for Nepalese people. Media plays a vital role in the practice and continuation of democracy. In a democratic country media gives news to people about the present activities of the government and existing political parties. Based on these news people make their choices. There are many countries in the world where journalists are arrested or killed for giving news to the people. With this new decision, government has moved one step ahead in the process of establishing democracy. As postal charges and royalty amount have been decreased, there is a chance of growth for these industries which means more work for people.
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