Kathmandu, Nov 25: The Election Commission (EC) has called on media to give priority to the coverage of news relating to the upcoming November 30 by-election.
A meeting held today under the coordination of Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya decided to request media to attach top priority to the collection and dissemination of the news concerning the by-elections to elect the local-level representatives, State Assembly members and the House of Representatives member.
The meeting also directed the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to coordinate with and facilitate the EC in the publication and dissemination of information to be delivered by the EC through private media.
It has urged the state-owned media to compulsorily give space to the information, messages, meeting decisions, press statement and news relating to the voter's education and the by-election provided by the EC with top priority.
Besides, the meeting has sought uninterrupted landline and mobile phone services in those districts and local levels where the by-election is taking place and in polling centers until the vote count is over, directing the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) to make necessary arrangements, if necessary, towards that end.
The meeting was attended by Election Commissioners Narendra Dahal and Ishwari Prasad Poudyal, secretaries at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the EC, Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS) executive chair, NTA chair, Department of Information and Broadcasting director, Gorkhapatra Sansthan's executive chair, Nepal Telecom's managing director, Nepal Television's general manager and Radio Nepal's deputy executive director.