New Delhi: National Press Day is observed on November 16, every year to honour and acknowledge the establishment of the Press Council of India (PCI) in 1966.
This was the day on which the Press Council of India started functioning as a moral watchdog to ensure that the press maintain the high standards expected from this powerful medium.
In 1956, the First Press Commission planned to form a Press Council to protect freedom of the press in India. On 4 July 1966, the Press Council was established in India. It came into effect from 16 November 1966. Therefore, 16 November is celebrated as National Press Day every year.
Recommending the establishment of Press Council of India in 1956, the 1st Press Commission had concluded that the best way of maintaining professional ethics in journalism would be to bring into existence a body with statutory authority, of people principally connected with industry whose duty would be to arbitrate.
The Press Council of India was formed in 1966 under the Press Council Act of 1978. Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad is the present chairman of the Press Council of India. He has been appointed for a second term. He succeeded Justice Markandey Katju (2011- 2014) to become the chairman of the council.
