The cabinet on Monday approved the draft of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) law which emerged as the national news agency in 1972 and was so far being run under an ordinance promulgated in 1979.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina chaired the meeting which gave its final approval to the “Bangladesh Sangbad Sagstha (BSS) Ain 2018”.
“The draft of the law has been framed bringing some changes in the ordinance of 1979,” Cabinet Secretary Md. Shafiul Alam to newsmen in a briefing at Bangladesh Secretariat after the meeting at the PMO. BSS was established on January 1, 1972 turning the Dhaka bureau of the then Associate Press of Pakistan (APP) while an ordinance was promulgated during the military regime in 1979.
The BSS Act would require the parliamentary endorsement for its enactment as the first law to run the national news agency engaged in disseminating national and international news of different arena.
The draft law suggests the national news agency for a period of three years to be operated by a 13 member Board of Directors which will include representatives of different ministries including the home and foreign ministries alongside senior journalists.
The government would appoint the chairman of the board while a person having 18 years experience in journalism would eligible for the post of the Managing Director and Chief Editor of the national news agency.
The law suggested simultaneous auditing of the news agency by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) and a chartered account firm.
