MIB nominates 13 working journalists to Press Council of India, including six editors

NEW DELHI: The press gets a fresh seat at the table. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has nominated 13 working journalists to the Press Council of India (PCI), including six editors and seven journalists from categories other than editors.

The nominations were notified by the central government on 7 October under the Press Council Act, 1978. The latest order amends the government notification issued in December 2024, which was subsequently amended in December 2025.

Among the six journalists nominated under the working journalists – editors category are Pradeep Kumar Jain, Sayed Raza Husain Rizvi, Ankur Dua, Aparna Shukla, Raj Parwana/Narender Singh and Vinod Bajpai.

The seven nominees under the working journalists – other than editors category are Vinod Kohli, Geetartha Pathak, Prajnananda Chaudhuri, Kingshuk Pramanik, C.K. Nayak, Prasanna Kumar Mohanty and Bijoy Kakchingtabam.

The nominations have been made under clause (a) of sub-section (3) of Section 5 of the Press Council Act, read with sub-section (1) of Section 6. The notification was issued by the MIB through joint secretary K.K. Nirala.

The latest order formally separates working journalists into two categories within the existing composition of the Press Council, with distinct entries for editors and journalists who do not hold editorial positions. The amendment comes ahead of the existing category of members representing people who own or carry on the business of managing newspapers.

The nominated journalists represent different parts of the country. The six editors include members from Raipur, Gonda, Muzaffarnagar, Kanpur and Delhi, while the seven-member non-editor category includes representation from Chandigarh, Guwahati, Kolkata, New Delhi, Bhubaneswar and Imphal.

The government notification also sets out the history of the appointment. The principal notification was issued on 19 December 2024 and published in the Gazette of India on 20 December 2024. It was subsequently amended through a notification dated 2 December 2025.

The Press Council of India is a statutory body constituted under the Press Council Act, 1978. The latest government order relates to the council’s membership and does not indicate any change to its existing mandate or powers.

With 13 working journalists now formally nominated across the two categories, the latest amendment strengthens the working-journalist representation within the statutory press body while maintaining the broader structure of the council.