The Minister said this while chairing a meeting of the Ministerial Committee constituted to address security related issues of media houses, said a press release issued here.
He said that the government considers media as an important instrument for strengthening democratic norms in the society and would therefore continue to facilitate them in performance of their professional obligations.
Media also plays its pivotal role of informing and shaping the public opinion and consequently it has become a target of criminal elements operating under different agendas, the minister added.
The Ministerial Committee in its 4th meeting discussed and reviewed in detail the status of implementation of the decisions taken during its third meeting.
The committee was also briefed on the steps and the security measures taken by ICT police and the provincial authorities to secure the media houses.
The Minister directed to constitute a committee to further review the security audit of media houses as per their satisfaction and to work on the framework of the provision of life insurance scheme for the journalists.
Senator Pervaiz Rashid also asked for the formation of another committee which will review the implementation status of the decisions in all the four provinces and submit report to the ministerial committee.
The committee will consist of representatives of APNS, CPNE, PBA, provincial authorities and an official from PID regional office, provincial information secretaries from Punjab, Baluchistan and KPK.
Special home secretary from Sindh also apprised the committee about updated steps taken by provincial governments to ensure safety of media houses.
The meeting was attended by Special Assistant to Prime Minister Irfan Siddiqui, Secretary Information Broadcasting and National Heritage Mohammad Azam, Director General National Crises Management Cell Saud Aziz, AIG Islamabad Capital Territory Police Operations Sultan Azam Taimuri, Additional Secretary IB & NH Saba Mohsin Raza, Secretary Information government of Punjab Momin Agha, Home Secretary KPK Arbab M Arif, Secretary Information Baluchistan Abdullah Jan, Special Secretary Home Department Sindh Riaz Somroo and representatives from PBA, CPNE, APNS and PFUJ.