HYDERABAD: Taking cognisance of the spate of complaints about surrogate advertisements couched in the form of news reports published by vernacular media in Andhra Pradesh during the general elections, Press Council of India (PCI) has decided to constitute a committee to look into the allegations.

Press Council of India Chairman Justice G. N. Ray terming the development as ‘nefarious’, said a special committee would probe into the charges, where crores of rupees were allegedly paid by the contestants of different political parties to carry news reports in their favour. No receipts were issued by the newspapers for these payments.

“The PCI executive council will meet in June first week to constitute a committee to probe into complaints also from the north,” Justice Ray told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on ‘General Elections 2009 – Media Reporting’ organised by the Press Academy of Andhra Pradesh and the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) here on Wednesday. He favoured constitution of the ‘media commission’ at the earliest.

Anguished politicians and journalists alike lashed out at the dubious role played by a large section of the media, which forced politicians to pay for ‘favourable’ news reports in the range of Rs. 2 to Rs. 25 lakh. A blanket ban on such news reports, criminal proceedings for indulging in such practice, need for amending the PCI Act and a new legislation to plug the ills in the media, was sought.

Former Union Minister Ch. Vidyasagar Rao and CPI MP Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy were bitter about a complete blackout of their coverage for not ‘paying’. Lok Satta Party candidate from Warangal Prof. Kodandaram likened the paid news to perfect ‘Cash Transfer Scheme’ between politicians and journalists. Congress leader K. Keshava Rao felt that more PCI chapters should look into such complaints.

Former Press Academy Chairman Potturi Venkateswara Rao said the reports were published with an idea to confuse, mislead and hoodwink readers. He wondered whether such acts attracted the provision of the People’ s Representation Act. Press Academy Chairman Devulapalli Amar blamed media managements for the corrupt practices. Secretary General of Indian Journalists Union K. Sreenivas Reddy estimated that ‘black money’ to the tune of Rs. 300 crore changed hands through this route. Senior journalist R. Akhileswari (Deccan Herald), Pasham Yadagiri, P.L.Visveswara Rao, Madabhushi Sridhar and media critic Yusuf Kamal stressed the need for stringent legislation to curb such trends.