On the recommendation
of the first Press Commission, the press and Registrar of Books Act, 1867 (PRB
Act) was amended in 1975 and the office of the Registrar of Newspaper for
India, RNI, was created from July 1,1956.
The PRB Act, as we have seen in a previous chapter, is
the only specific press law in force in the country now. It has been amended
from time, including twice after Independence The fashionable way of referring
to the old laws as archaic is thus unjustified from this point of view.
One of the functions of RNI is to compile an annual
report on the press in India. According to the 19947 report, covering the
period from January to December, 1993, which is the latest available there was
33,612 registered periodicity, with a total circulation of 67,611,000
copies.
Even so the circulation was 6.2 per cent higher than
in 1992, although in that year the number of newspaper which supplied the
figures was more, 4027. Possibly, a few of these publications had been facing
difficulty and not been coming out or were too ill-equipped to file even
a statutory report in 1993. The Hindi press had the largest share of both the
number of papers and circulation.
Under statutory
functions, RNI performs the following duties
Compilation and
maintenance of a Register of Newspapers containing particulars about all
the newspapers published.
Issue of Certificate
of Registration to newspapers published under valid declaration;
Scrutiny and analysis
of annual statements sent by the publishers of newspapers
every year under PRB Act containing information on circulation, ownership etc.
Informing district magistrates about availability of
titles, to intending publishers for filing declaration.
Ensuring that
newspapers are published in accordance with the provisions of PRB Act 1867 and
the rules made there under.
Verification under
Section 19-F of PRB Act, of circulation claims furnished by the publishers in
their Annual Statements.
Preparation and
submission to the Government on or before 31 December each year, a report
containing all available information and statistics about the press in India
with particular reference to the emerging trends in circulation and in the
direction of common ownership units etc.
Happy Learning!
Anamika Gupta
IAAN
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