By Payal MehtaNew Delhi [India], March 14 (ANI): Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur on Tuesday rejected the findings of "The World Press Freedom Index" published by a foreign Non-Government-Organization (NGO), "Reporters Without Borders" and asserted that the government does not interfere in the functioning of the Press.

Thakur said this while replying to YSRCP Lok Sabha MP Reddy Adala Prabhakar Reddy in Lok Sabha.

According to Thakur, the government does not subscribe to the views of the NGO findings and listed the reasons for the same.

"The Government does not subscribe to its views and country rankings and does not agree to the conclusions drawn by this organization 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, etc," Thakur said.

While asserting that the government does not interfere in the functioning of the Press, the Union Minister said,"In pursuance of its policy to uphold the freedom of the press, the Government does not interfere in the functioning of the press."He said that the Press Council of India (PCI), a statutory autonomous body, has been set up under the Press Council Act, 1978 mainly to preserve the freedom of the Press and improve the standards of newspapers and news agencies in the country.

"PCI considers complaints filed ''by the Press'' concerning curtailment of press freedom, physical assault/attack on journalists, etc. under Section 13 of the Press Council Act 1978 and processed under the provisions of Press Council (Procedure for Inquiry) Regulations, 1979. PCI is also empowered to take suo-motu cognizance in matters on the pressing issues concerning freedom of Press and safeguarding of its high standards," he said.

In the reply, the government said that the Press Council of India confers the National Awards for Excellence in Journalism since 2012. A list of awardees is placed on their website. (ANI)