No democracy is fighting pandemic by gagging its media: Editors Guild of India

Eastern Railway which has produced 14,800 masks and 2,620

liters of sanitiser.

Since freight operations of Indian Railways are running 24X7 to maintain essentials and goods supplies, operation and maintenance staff are working round the clock.

To ensure the safety of these staff and boost their morale, masks and hand sanitizers are being made available to all staff coming on duty. These are also being ensured for contract

labourers.

NEW DELHI: The Editors Guild of India has said it is "deeply perturbed" over the government blaming the media in the Supreme Court for causing panic among migrant workers, leading to their exodus in the wake of the lockdown, and asserted that such actions could obstruct the process of dissemination of news.

In a strongly-worded statement, the Guild said that blaming the media at this juncture can only undermine the current work being done by it under trying circumstances.

"The Editors Guild of India is deeply perturbed over the recent government statement before the Supreme Court putting the blame on the media for causing panic among migrant workers leading to their mass movement in the wake of the lockdown," the statement said.

This led the apex court to observe that while it didn't want to inhibit the debate on the pandemic in any way, the media should refer to and publish the official version of the developments pertaining to the coronavirus pandemic, the Guild said in the statement issued Thursday night.