NEW DELHI: With both Universities and the private sector setting up mass communications schools, the Government has decided to review the mushrooming of such institutions across the country.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said her Ministry was already consulting the Human Resource Development Ministry on constituting a committee for this purpose. The committee would comprise key stakeholders associated with the issue.

Meanwhile, she said the Government had initiated measures to establish Regional Centres of Indian Institute of Mass Communications at Aizawl, Amravati, Kerala and Jammu to promote excellence in journalism. The Minister said she was confident that by the end of the year, an Act of Parliament could be enacted whereby IIMC would become an institute of excellence.

The Minister was speaking after conferring the Seema Nazreth Award for Journalistic Excellence to Indulekha Arvind of Business Standard. The Award instituted by Business Standard, she said, provided the ideal platform to nurture true talent based on professionalism, skills and aptitude for journalism. The criteria for selecting the winner of the award was quite rigorous based on quality of writing, information gathering, analysis and the impact of the published work on society.

The Minister said she was confident that the ongoing debate in the country on the issue of regulation and self-regulation in the electronic and print media would help in bringing about a consensus and a new perspective on issues related to the freedom of press.

Lauding the development of the media and entertainment industry in the country, the Minister said the media landscape had placed India in an exciting position globally where growth was robust with over 82000 publications and 800 channels in the broadcast media. The Media and Entertainment Sector in India grew at 11.2 per cent in 2010. The Minister spoke of the need to focus on celebrating with pride the diversity of India while at the same time appreciating the richness of Indian culture.