Year-Long Obstruction: Information Ministry Finally Directed to Release PTV Anchors’ Pay Packages
The Pakistan Information Commission (PIC) has directed the Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MOIB), to disclose details of the salary packages of anchors Ameen Hafiz, Beenish Saleem, Najam Wali, Razi Dada, Shumaila Choudhary, and others hired in Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) from August 2023 to March 2024 onward.
The Commission has also instructed the Ministry to make public the minutes of the departmental selection meeting in which the decision to hire these anchors was made.
The directive came in response to an appeal filed by this reporter under the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017, after the Ministry failed to provide the requested information.
This reporter had submitted an information request to the Secretary, MOIB, on September 26, 2024, seeking comprehensive details regarding the recruitment of TV anchors and program hosts at Pakistan Television (PTV). The information sought included the list of anchors and hosts hired by PTV from March 1, 2024, to date, along with their salary packages—whether paid per month or per program and the criteria used for their hiring. It is pertinent to mention that the salary packages and copies of contracts of some former anchors have also been requested in order to compare their terms and remuneration with those of the newly hired anchors.
It also requested details of anchors hired between August 2023 and March 2024, including their salary packages, as well as copies of contracts signed with several program hosts such as Ameen Hafiz, Rana Abrar Khalid, Beenish Saleem, Najam Wali, Razi, Dada, Shumaila Choudhary, Rizwan Razi, and Maria Zulfiqar Khan.
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Additionally, this reporter also sought the minutes of the departmental selection meeting in which the decision to hire anchors including Beenish Saleem, Ameen Hafiz, and Shumaila Choudhary was taken.
Despite the passage of more than one year, the Secretary, MOIB, remained reluctant to share the information and continued to employ delaying tactics. The appeal before the Pakistan Information Commission remained pending for almost a year, with repeated adjournments requested by the Ministry on various pretexts.
In its order passed on October 14, 2025, the Pakistan Information Commission observed that the appeal had been pending since October 13, 2024, against the Secretary, MOIB, and that the Ministry had failed to comply with the statutory timeframe.
The Commission noted that under Section 17(3) of the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017, an appeal must be decided within 60 days. It emphasized that a substantial period had already elapsed without any valid justification from the Ministry, which continued to withhold the requested data.
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The Commission stated that after examining the nature of the information sought, it had concluded that the requested details did not fall within any exemption under the law.
Furthermore, the Ministry had not claimed any exemption during the course of proceedings. The PIC therefore allowed the appeal and directed the Secretary, MOIB, to provide the requested information within ten days of the order’s issuance.
The Commission’s order made it clear that failure to comply would result in appropriate action being taken under the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017. The Secretary, MOIB, has been instructed to submit a compliance report to the Commission by November 4, 2025.