Press club seized; scribes protest

Vizianagaram: After so many twists and turns, the Press Club in the town was seized on Wednesday. Tension prevailed in the area for some time as some of the journalists tried to prevent the police and the revenue department officials.

According to sources, the Press Club here was constructed long ago and till now, it is under the management of only one particular union and journalists of other unions are not permitted to enter the club.

This has led to some revolt from the scribes here and they formed as JAC and met the District Collector Vivek Yadav and DPRO D Ramesh and appealed to them to take necessary steps to allow every journalist into the Press Club.

But the leaders of that union objected to the attempts made by the DPRO. Even the DPRO held a meeting with the two groups but the problem remains unsolved. But finally, the District Collector ordered the DPRO to take over the building with the support of the police and other revenue staff.

As per his instructions, Ramesh, along with tahsildar T Govind, reached the building and tried to seize it. But when some journalists tried to prevent them, the police pushed them out and seized it.

Later, Ramesh said that the government would conduct fresh elections and form a governing body for it. Then, every media person would be allowed into the building. The building was a common property and not confined to only one particular group, Ramesh added.