KUWJ Press Club, the office of the Kerala Press Workers’ Union in Malappuram, will be confiscated. Malappuram Press Club building has been seized and the bank accounts of the officials have been frozen due to non-payment of rent of Rs 20 lakh. The Village Officer submitted a report to Malappuram Tehsildar recommending this. In the report, it is accused that the press club officials are not cooperating with the revenue recovery process and are not ready to hand over the bank account information. Malappuram Press Club has also found serious irregularities in the lease of land. There is a violation of the law in leasing the land owned by the Excise Department to the Press Club. The excise department has also approached the revenue department to get back the land.
If it is not possible to collect 20 lakh rupees, there is a move to collect it from the office bearers. For this purpose, the account numbers of the officials are now being collected by the revenue authorities. Land encroachment and forgery of press clubs under the Kerala Journalists’ Union have led to legal action in various districts. A case is pending in the High Court against the construction of Press Club by encroaching the land of Vadakkumnath Temple Devaswom in Thrissur. There is also a crime branch case in which Thrissur Press Club office bearers have submitted a forged document to obtain the land title of the Press Club.
The District Collector had ordered the confiscation of the Press Club because Wayanad Press Club illegally organized and built a building with Rs 25 lakhs from the MP fund. The Press Club officials obtained a temporary stay against the seizure from the High Court. The District Collector has taken action to remove the stay.
In a similar manner, MP fund embezzlement by Thodupuzha Press Club has also been caught. Proceedings have been initiated to recover the amount. The inspection wing of the Finance Department has found that the Delhi unit of KUWJ and nine district press clubs of Kerala have embezzled government funds worth Rs 2.5 crore. Proceedings have been initiated to recover the amount with interest. In short, press clubs in Kerala have turned into looting gangs that siphon off government exchequer.
Press Clubs and their offices are functioning state-wide with government funds. But only the members of the KWJ organization have access to such press clubs. About 80% of media workers in Kerala are not allowed to enter here. Earlier there was a controversy that such government funded media offices are held by only one organization and thus cost the exchequer.
While such press clubs are used as an office service to provide news to the people, they also collect fees from the press conferences held by the people. Up to Rs 3000 is being taken from the public to hold a press conference. This means that the public has to pay a huge fee for the services of the government-aided
