Is Government Losing Transparency?

Journalists are not always a very disciplined lot. Keeping them at an arm’s length can be a good strategy for the government – and that can happen as a result of their own misbehaviour; but banning them from the source of information can have different implications.

- Buroshiva Dasgupta

This is precisely what happened after an order was passed that no media person would be allowed to enter the finance ministry or talk to the officials without permission. Ministries are usually restricted areas and permissions are granted only after prior appointment. But such notifications scare away the officials and collecting information for journalists become more difficult as the ‘sources’ become increasingly close-lipped.