New Delhi, Dec 13 (IANS) Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh Thursday described media reports on two Dalit boys being used to plough the field of his brother in Bihar as a “stage-managed sting operation”.
The minister also urged the television channels that ran the story last week to restore “the irreparable loss they have caused me and their credibility”.
Addressing newspersons, Singh said that a TV channel, which ran the byte borrowed from another TV channel, had later gone to ascertain the real facts, shot the real story, but never ran it.
He said the TV channels had put out a story on Dec 9, 10 and 11 which showed that Singh’s brother had employed child labour to plough the minister’s fields in Vaishali district. The story created considerable sensation since Singh, a senior Rashtriya Janata Dal leader, had all along espoused the cause of the poor and downtrodden in parliament and outside.
Singh was armed with an enquiry report of the Bihar Labour Commissioner stating that the children shown in the TV report were studying in a local school and were lured by four motorcycle borne men into giving that TV byte – pulling a log of wood – on payment of Rs.20. “The whole story was managed,” Singh said.
He alleged that the motorcycle borne newsmen had gone there ostensibly to do a news story on water-logging, which is prevalent all over in Vaishali, including his farm. The reporters had got his brother, Raghuraj Singh, to talk about water-logging and thus got to photograph him.
Pointing out that the media is the fourth pillar of democracy, Singh said if the media does not discharge its role honestly and sincerely, it will only weaken democracy.
“I am busy removing poverty. Child labour is part of poverty. Once poverty is removed, there will be no child labour,” he said.
He denied that he was contemplating any penal action against the concerned newspersons or their organisation, but added, “I don’t know why and what they have against me?”