Centre disagrees with World Press Freedom Index ranking for India; placed 142/180 nations

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday said that the Centre does not agree with Reporters Without Borders and its conclusions pertaining to press freedom in India. In his written reply to a question on India being placed at 142 out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index, Thakur added that the Centre does not agree for several reasons like "very low sample size and little or no weightage to fundamentals of democracy". 

The World Press Freedom Index is compiled and published by the Reporters Without Borders this year. In his reply, Thakur has also expressed doubt and said that the methodology adopted by publisher of the report is "questionable and non-transparent". He further added that the Union government does not subscribe to its "views and country rankings". He also added that there is a "lack of clear definition of press freedom" among several other reasons. 

"The World Press Freedom Index is published by a foreign non government-organisation, Reporters Without Borders. The government does not subscribe to its views and country rankings and does not agree to the conclusions drawn by this organisation for various reasons, including very low sample size, little or no weightage to fundamentals of democracy, adoption of a methodology which is questionable and non-transparent, lack of clear definition of press freedom, among others," he said

The Union Minister has also affirmed that the Centre is "committed to ensuring the right to freedom of speech and expression enshrined under Article 19 of the Constitution of India". When asked about the safety and freedom of journalists, including the recent booking of 102 people, including media persons under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act by the Tripura Police, Thakur said that it was a "state subject". 

"Police and public order are state subjects under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India, and the state governments are responsible for prevention, detection, registration and investigation of crime and for prosecuting the criminals through their law enforcement agencies,"

The central government attaches "highest importance" to the safety and security of "every citizen of the country, including journalists. An advisory specifically on safety of journalists was issued to states/UTs on October 20, 2017, requesting them to strictly enforce the law to ensure the safety and security of media persons," Thakur added