Revenue stream dries up for tribal press clubs

Mohmand Press Club, the first press club of former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), has been in the grip of a severe financial crisis after the merger of the tribal districts in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

It has been unable to pay even its utility bills as previously it received a meager grant of Rs35,000 per month from the political agent, enabling it to pay its bills and provide the much needed internet at the press club for the local journalists as well as pay its employees.

Talking to The Express Tribune, President Mohmand Press Club Mushtaram Khan said that they received a monthly grant in the past which enabled them to pay the salaries of their employees, including a computer operator, a cook, a gardener and a sweeper as well as internet charges.

“We pay Rs8,000 to the operator, Rs8,000 to the cook, Rs8,000 to the sweeper and Rs3,000 to the occasional gardener,” he said, adding that in the past there was a grant as well as press conferences, which were major source of income.

Read PTI seeks ANP's support in upcoming Senate chairman polls

“After the merger the local tribal maliks are no more who were our main clients. There are very few press conferences now. In the past we received Rs10,000 for a press conference and sometime were paid Rs15,000 thus generating handsome income but these are things of the past,” he said.

“In 2011, an NGO established a well-furnished computer lab at the press club and solarized the press club too but these things are no more. Today only one computer is functional at the press club,” he said, adding there were 17 active members of the club.

After the merger an alternate system should have been established for grants but it didn’t happen, he said.

The president of Bajaur Press Club Hisbanullah told The Express Tribune that in the past political agents had Agency Development Funds (ADF) at their disposal. With the merger this fund is also gone and with it the grants provided to local press clubs.

“Local maliks were more interested in press conferences too,” he said.

It is worth mentioning here that Mohmand press club was the first of its kind to be established back in 2004.

Former Governor Iftikhar Hussain Shah took this revolutionary step and approved the construction of a building for the press club despite the fact that under the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) there was no space for the freedom of expression.

“Iftikhar Hussain Shah asked the political agent Sahibzada Anees to do it and in 2004 the first press club of Fata came into being. He turned the unthinkable into reality. We have lost four members in the war on terror. And from Fata 11 journalists have sacrificed their lives,” said Mushtaram Khan, adding that in January 2011 the president of Mohmand Press Club Mukaram Khan was killed in target killing.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2021.