The decision to withdraw the decision came in the wake of journalists boycotting the House proceedings.
Odisha Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy on Wednesday lifted the restriction on journalists to carry mobile phones to the press gallery inside the House.
The decision to withdraw the decision came in the wake of journalists boycotting the House proceedings.
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The issue was resolved after the Speaker Surama Padhy and Government chief whip Saroj Pradhan later held a meeting with the agitating journalists.
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The journalists were allowed to carry mobile phones inside the press gallery of the House. But they have been restricted from videography of the House proceedings, said an official of the State Assembly.
Though no official notification has been issued debarring journalists from carrying mobile phones inside the House, the security personnel deployed at the entry gates reportedly prevented the reporters from carrying the gadget. This triggered resentment among the journalists, who later boycotted the House proceedings in a show of protest.
The agitating journalists later staged a dharna near the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the assembly premises seeking the withdrawal of the restrictions.
The action of not allowing journalists to carry mobile phones came a day after photographs and videos of the MLAs’ scuffle inside the House were used by media houses and went viral on social media.
The agitating journalists argued that they were entitled to take photographs and videos of the proceedings during the Question Hour.
The Opposition parties- BJD and Congress- later criticized the restriction.
BJD MLA and former minister Arun Kumar Sahoo strongly condemned the restriction on media and urged the Speaker not to interfere with the freedom of the press.
“The action is not acceptable. They have suspended a senior member of the opposition and are now restricting journalists,” Sahoo said.
Suspended from the House, Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati strongly criticised the action and said his party was fully supporting the journalists’ protest.
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