Reduce Newspaper Holidays
It is a genuine feeling of frustration that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed over complete newspaper shutdown during the Eid holidays. In fact, the confusion created by the late announcement of moon sighting further added to the problem this year and we had to go without newspapers for four days. We appreciate the concern of the Prime Minister whose suggestion for shorter holidays and thinner editions, if necessary, during these festivals, are well-taken. The workers in this industry produce 350 regular issues of different sizes in a year. In addition, a number of special issues on various subjects are also produced every year. The job is demanding and at the same time exciting and creative. So who will not like to have a longish holiday and give time to his family and friends? But this is essentially a public service sector designed for the buyers who are also the readers and constitute the most important part of the operation. Hence the interest of these sections of people has to be served without interruption.
In pre-liberation days newspapers used to remain closed for the Eid day only. In Pakistan today, it is still the practice. The beauty in those days were that the publications had their own agents for the Dhaka city and they competed with each other. These agents had their own pool of hawkers' for distribution of the newspapers, so there was no problem in the publication and distribution of newspapers during the festivals. The scene has changed drastically. Today the distribution system of all newspapers in Dhaka city is concentrated in the hawkers' cooperative society. All hawkers have to be members of the society in order to sell newspapers and periodicals. Most of the members of the cooperatives come from far-flung areas of Bangladesh and on the Eid holidays they go home to spend time with their families. So the city remains without hawkers.
But the PM is very right when she observes that possibly nowhere in the world people go without paper for three consecutive days. It is time, therefore, for some arrangement to be struck between newspaper managements and representatives of the hawkers' unions to discuss ways to reduce holidays, and make special arrangements to publish newspapers on Eid and other holidays. The leaders of the industry must take a lead in this matter.
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