VISAKHAPATNAM:Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan will inaugurate a three-day conference on ‘Parliament and the Media’, jointly organised by Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and World Bank Institute (WBI) here on Wednesday. The programme is being hosted by Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
The Lok Sabha speaker arrived in the city Tuesday evening to attend the international conference. Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu and deputy speaker of Lok Sabha M Thambidurai will also attend the inaugural of the conference. Andhra Pradesh Assembly speaker K Sivaprasada Rao will deliver the welcome address. Delegates from all the nine CPA regions will participate in the conference.
Lok Sabha member Meenakashi Lekhi will attend as a delegate representing the country, while another MP and executive committee member for India region Prem Das Rai will be present as the CPA representative.
Several key issues will be discussed in the three-day conference. They include ‘The Parliament and the media’, ‘The role of media as the fourth estate’, ‘Legal framework’, ‘Parliament and the media: working groups, ‘How has social media impacted the institution of Parliament and Parliamentarians?’, ‘Access to Parliamentary information’, ‘Overview of Access and Right to Information’, ‘Media and accountability: collaborative Governance across the national budget cycle’ and ‘Gender issues and the media’.