Therefore, it is very essential that we should have another press commission to enquire about the Indian press. Now, I would deal with some of the points which I referred to earlier, namely, the tendencies of monopoly in the Indian press. When one goes through the pages of the report of the registrar of newspapers, one cannot escape the conclusions that tendencies of monopoly have been increasing day by day. I might read out a few sentences so that we might be able to understand the dangerous trend that is prevalent so far as monopoly is concerned. The registrar of newspapers says in chapter V that there is a further concentration of newspaers, under common ownership as represented by chains, groups and multiple units. I would like to know whether we should not cry a halt to this growth of monopoly in the press. The question is how to do it, how is bring about diffusion in paper ownership. May I suggest that one of the eays to bring about diffusion in the matter of ownership is to put a limit on the ownership of papers by a group or a chain? We have now to consider whether a certain amount of limit should not be contemplated. Now, I would refer to one or two other aspects about the policy of the government itself in regard to certain matters. Madam, after the emergency was declared I thought that the patriotic press of India would react to the needs of emergency and I must say, whatever may be the position or the capital structure of the press, whatever may be the monopolistic trends in the Indian press, in the beginning, though the press was comparatively free to publish anything it liked, it exercised restraint and showed a sense of responsibility but later on I find that government interfered with the functioning of the various paper and even directed.
