Index Monitoring Cell

Reference

Recently, the Index Monitoring Cell submitted its report to the Central Government.

Key Recommendations of the Report

• This report talks about declaring defamation as non-criminal. It is known that India is one of the few countries where defamation is considered a criminal act.
• It has also been recommended to make the consent of the Press Council of India mandatory before filing an FIR against the media or publication.

Index Monitoring Cell

• It was established in the year 2020 by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• It has been formed with the objective of improving the rank of India in the 'World Press Index' and developing unbiased criteria to measure the freedom of media. It is noteworthy that India was ranked 142 out of 180 countries in the 'World Press Index, 2020'.
• Also, it will develop a mechanism for determining the ranking of states in press freedom. The structure§  I.M.C. is a 15-member committee, headed by Kuldeep Singh Dhatwalia (Principal Director General of Press Information Bureau).
• It includes the Secretary of the Press Council of India and NITI Aayog in addition to the Registrar Officers of the Indian Newspaper, Outreach and Communications Bureau and Press Facilitation Unit.