Press Council of India likely to issue advisory asking media not to use the word 'Dalit' in reports

New Delhi: The Press Council of India (PCI) is likely to issue an advisory to the media to abstain from using the word ‘Dalit’ in their reports, a source said. The move comes days after the Bombay High Court asked the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry to consider issuing a direction to the media to stop using the word ‘Dalit’, following a circular which advised government officials against using the word.

The I&B Ministry will ask PCI to study the judgment of the court after which an advisory on the issue is expected by the council, the source said. The source said that the PCI, which will take a call on the issue, is expected to issue an advisory in a month’s time.

Last week, the Nagpur bench of the high court, while hearing a PIL, said, “As the central government has issued necessary directions to its officers, we find that it can also issue suitable directions as per the law to respondent no. 2 (Press Council) and the media to refrain from using the same word.”

The court was informed that the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment had issued a circular on 15 March, advising the central and state governments to avoid the word ‘Dalit’ and instead use the term “person belonging to Scheduled Caste”. The PCI is the regulatory body for print media in the country.