The Arunachal Pradesh Gazette
EXTRAORDINARY
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY
No. 221, Vol. XXXIII, Naharlagun, Monday, August 3, 2026, Sravana 12, 1948 (Saka)
GOVERNMENT OF ARUNACHAL PRADESH DIRECTORATE OF INFORMATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS NAHARLAGUN
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NOTIFICATION
The 28th July, 2026
No. IPR.(Press Acct)-123/2012/535.—In super-session of the Arunachal Pradesh Accreditation of Journalists Rule, 2014, except as respect things done or omitted to be done before such super-session, the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh is hereby pleased to make the following Rules to provide for accreditation to correspondents and representatives of Newspapers, News Agencies and other media organizations, namely ;
1. Short title and commencement :-
I. These Rules may be called The Arunachal Pradesh Press Accreditation Rules, 2025.
II. They shall come into force from the date of publication in the Official Gazette,
III. They shall apply to the grant of accreditation to representatives of news media organizations and journalists provided that news media representatives already accredited before commencement of these Rules shall continue to remain so until otherwise reviewed or revised by the Government of Arunachal Pradesh.
2. Definition :
(1) In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires :
(a) "Accreditation" means recognition of news media representatives by the Government of Arunachal Pradesh for purposes of access to sources of Information in the Government and also to news materials, written or pictorial or audio-visual released by the office of the Director of Information and Public Relations or any other agencies of the Government ; for invitations to Government functions ;
(b) "Committee" means the Arunachal Pradesh Press Accreditation Committee Constituted under Rule 3;
(c) "Director" means the Director of Information and Public Relations, Government of Arunachal Pradesh ;
(d) "Government" means the Government of Arunachal Pradesh ;
(e) "Media" means newspaper and magazines, Digital Media, news agencies, All India Radio, Doordarshan and other audio-visual networks dealing with information of public interest ;
(f) "Secretary" means the Secretary, Information and Public Relations, Government of Arunachal Pradesh ;
(g) "Chairman" means the Chairman of the Arunachal Pradesh Press Accreditation Committee.
3. Constitution of Accreditation Committee :
(a) The Government shall constitute a Committee called the Arunachal Pradesh Press Accreditation Committee to carry out the purposes of these Rules.
(b) The Committee so constituted shall function for a period of 2 years from the date of its constitution;
(c) The Committee shall consist of the following members:
(i) The Commissioner/Secretary : Chairman (ii) The Director : Member Secretary (iii) Dy. Director, (PR) : Member (iv) A senior representative of recognized News Agencies : Member (v) President, Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalist : Member2 The Arunachal Pradesh Extraordinary Gazette, August 3, 2026 4. Meetings of the Committee :
(a) All meetings of the Committee shall be chaired by the Commissioner/Secretary,IPR.
(b) The Committee shall meet once every four months.
(c) The quorum for a meeting shall be two-third of the total membership.
5. Format of Application : -
(i) Any representative of news media house shall submit their application to the Director for grant of accreditation under these Rules in the format of application as at ANNEXURE-I.
(ii) On receipt of application, the Director shall examine the application and submit it to the committee for granting of accreditation to the applicant.
(iii) The committee shall examine the applications received under Rule 5 and if the applicant furnishes/ fulfills all terms and conditions provided under these Rules, an accreditation shall be granted to the applicant.
(iv) Provided that failure to submit required information under these Rules, the application is liable for rejection by the committee but the applicant shall be given opportunity of being heard before rejecting the application;
(v) Provided further that the committee may reject any application for any other reason on public interest after giving an opportunity of being heard to the applicant.
6. Validity of Accreditation: -
(a) An accreditation card shall be issued to a representative with a validity period of two years under these Rules. The Accreditation and the accreditation card shall expire automatically after two years from the date of issue.
(b) On Expiry of the accreditation, it has to be applied again for further period of two years.
(c) Admission to special Government functions such as press conference,important occasions etc. shall, however, be governed by special invitations.
(d) A minimum of fifteen days should be given for meetings, unless the Chairman is satisfied that meeting should be called at short notice due to extra ordinary circumstances.
7. To whom accreditation may be granted: -
(a) An Accreditation shall be given under these rules to representatives of Media houses and Freelancers. Provided that an applicant for accreditation fulfills all the criteria laid down under these Rules.
(b) The representatives of media houses will mean Editors, Reporters,Cameramen, Columnists, Cartoonists of newspapers and Magazines and Digital and electronic media including All India Radio, Doordarshan, SatelliteTV channels or representatives of news agencies or as may be interpreted by the Committee.
8. Status of accredited Journalists: -
(a) Such an accreditation, shall not confer any special status with any accredited media representatives but shall recognize and identify them as professional journalists dealing with news of public interest. Such accreditation shall be used for journalistic purposes only.
(b) An accredited representative shall not use the "accredited to the Government of Arunachal Pradesh" on visiting cards, letter heads or any other form of personal stationery or any other literature.
9. Criteria for issue of Accreditation: -
For granting an accreditation under these Rules, the following conditions shall be fulfilled by an applicant :
(a) He/She should enclose appointment order showing experience of five years continuous service in a news/media organization from the Publisher/Broadcaster or his/her representative (Management) with seal and signature.
(b) Furnish a No Objection Certificate from the Local Police station or from the concerned police station from where he/she is a permanent resident. Such NOC should indicate clearly that there is no criminal record against the applicant.
(c) The representative of the news/ media agency even though it is published from outside shall reside within Arunachal Pradesh;
(d) The representative must have regularly served in a recognized media organization for at least 5 (five) years on a regular basis;
(e) For granting of accreditation to free-lancers, the applicant must have a minimum qualification of at least 10 years of journalistic experience behind him or her.He/She has to furnish the required documents showing that he/she has been working as a freelancer for last ten years.
(f) The applicant should substantiate his/her journalistic works in the form of articles,video links, pictures etc., duly certified by the concerned editor of the media house.
The Arunachal Pradesh Extraordinary Gazette, August 3, 2026 3 10. Accreditation to IPR Officials: -(a) Accreditation shall also be given to regular District Information and Public Relations Officers, Press Relation Officers, Assistant Press Relation Officers,Photographers and videographers of the Department of Information and Public Relations to enable them to access information, gather news materials, and record important events of Government for public interest.
(b) However, if the accreditation card so issued to the officials of the department for enabling them to discharge their functions get discharged from duties because of disciplinary reasons, retirement, or any other reason, the cards shall be withdrawn and deposited with the Director immediately.
11. Other Criteria : -
The contents of the items of the newspaper or news organization shall include news and information emanating from Arunachal Pradesh and they shall mainly contain information, comments, features and illustration, or current social, political, economic,cultural and other issues of public interest.
12. Withdrawal and Expiry : -
An accreditation card granted under these Rules shall be invalid or expired if:
(a) A representative ceases to represent the organization against which he or she had applied;
(b) Such media or organization ceases to function;Provided that such ceasing is only for a short period due to unforeseen happening beyond control of the representative or the organization and if the publication of newspaper or magazine or organization is likely to resume in future;
(c) Accreditation card issued to a representative shall be suspended or withdrawn if the representative or the organization furnishes false information regarding his or her bio-data or of the organization;
(d) if the representative engages in non-journalistic activities or conducts him or herself in an unprofessional manner;
Following shall be construed as non-journalistic activities or conducts :
1. Carrying or publishing of baseless, motivated, malicious, scurrilous, obscene or derogatory reports.
2. Incite, provoke, preach violence or communal disharmony in the form of video, audio, articles, comments, views, photography, cartoons etc.
3. Reports repugnant to socially accepted conventions of public decency and morals.
4. Facing stricture/censure from the Press Council of India or any other Government authority for writing/carrying of objectionable/defamatory reports etc.
(e) No such suspension or withdrawal shall be put into effect except through a decision taken in a meeting with a quorum of at least two-thirds of the committee present for the purpose.
Provided that such suspension or withdrawal shall not be for more than one year and without giving any opportunity of being heard to the representative;
13. Furnishing of information: -
An accredited representative of a media organization shall furnish required Information to the Director forthwith and return the accreditation card to the Director when such representatives cease to represent the organization or when such media organization ceases to function or closes down, as the case may be.
Manish Kumar Gupta, IAS
Chief Secretary,
Government of Arunachal Pradesh,
Itanagar.
4 The Arunachal Pradesh Extraordinary Gazette, August 3, 2026 (ANNEXURE - I)APPLICATION FOR ISSUE OF NEW/RENEWAL OF PRESS ACCREDITATION
1. Name (in Block Letters) : 2. Father's Name : 3. Date of Birth : 4. Permanent Address with phone/mobile No. : 5. Present Address with phone/mobile No. : 6. Identification mark : 7. Blood Group : 8. Name and type of Agency : 9. Name of the Newspaper/News Organisation/Media : 10. Name of the Head office and branches including it headquarter : 11. Method of distribution of its service : 12. Periodicity of publication : 13. Professional experience, if any (enclose document) : 14. Accreditation card no. with issuing authority, if any :
I hereby affirm that the above particulars are true, complete and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. If any of the above information is found incorrect, my accreditation shall be liable for cancellation.
Place :
Signature of the applicant with date
Date :
CERTIFICATE
Certified that Shri/Smti …………………………………………………….....................................son/daughter of ................................................................... Village........................................................................ P.O.......................................... P.S. .........................................District........................................... State of ..............................................................................................................is an employee of and working as………………………..…….............since …………………......
I recommend the applicant for issue of new/renewal of Press Accreditation.
Place :...................................... Management/Editor
(With Seal) Date : ......................................
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Published and Printed by Directorate of Printing and Stationery, Naharlagun.—571/2026-DoP-250+Director(IPR)-50-8-2026.