The Early Days of Journalists Movement

In October 1950, leading and militant journalists of the country met at New Delhi to set up the first all-India organisation of working journalists in the name and style of Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ) with M Chalapathi Rao as president. In 1952, the IFWJ adopted the Delhi Declaration which formed the basis of the struggle of the working journalists for a long time. The formation of the Press Council, the adoption of the Indian Working Journalists Act and the acceptance of the wage board machinery to determine the salary structure of working journalists were all a result of the struggle launched in pursuance of the Delhi Declaration. However, before it could make any headway in its struggle for delinking newspaper ownership from other industries, the organisation had to face a split when a section of journalists broke away to form the National Union of Journalists in 1974.

IJU is Formed

Vested interests, however, continued to weaken the organisation until a stage was reached when it was usurped by certain self-serving individuals. After a long struggle with the organisation to correct its course, the militant sections of the community were compelled in the late 1980s to sacrifice the name of the organisation to carry forward its spirit of struggle with the result that a majority of IFWJ members formed the Indian Journalists Union (IJU) in 1989. And was registered, under the Indian TradeUnions Act, 1926, by the Registrar of Trade Unions in June, 1990.

The Indian Journalists Union (IJU), natural successor to the movement of working journalists since the days of the freedom struggle against the British Raj, held its first Plenum at Ranchi on December 27 to 29, 1991. The meeting adopted the constitution of the organisation, elected its leadership.

The Strength of IJU

IJU is the true representative organisation of Journalists in India. It has its presence in most of the states and Union Territories of India. The total strength of IJU is over 15000 members. IJU is well represented in Central and States Government bodies for journalists in India, such as the Press Infomation Bureau (PIB), and Press Accreditation Committee. IJU has three member in the Press Council of India, they are Mr Suresh Akhouri, Mr Geetartha Pathak and Ms. Sabina Inderjit. Ms. Sabina Inderjit is also elected member in the executive committee of International federation of Journalists (IFJ).

Who runs IJU

IJU is a democratic organisation with its unique and well documented Constitution.
The Constitution is available on this site .
The National Executive Committee looks after day to day affairs and the funds of the Union.The organisation has a President, two Vice Presidents, Secretary General, four Secretaries, a Treasurer and 13 elected members of the National Executive Committee.
Powers of National Council .
Powers of the National Executive Committee .

The Future is Bright

The IJU will continue to fight for the cause of Freedom of Press, Attack against Journalists and Free Speech; and will continue to work for the welfare of journalists. IJU has a huge pool of talented young journalists, who will continue to take the cause and values for which IJU stands to new heights.