Formation 1954 Region served Bangladesh Official language Bengali | Headquarters Dhaka, Bangladesh Members 800 Website National Press Club | |
National Press Club is the professional club for journalists of Bangladesh located in the Capital Dhaka. The current president is Muhammad Shafiqur Rahman. The general secretary is Farida Yasmin.
Contents
History
The National Press club was founded in 1954 as the East Pakistan Press Club. It was formed to be run by an elected committee guided by its rules and regulations. The Government of East Pakistan rented out a building at 18 Topkhana Road at a monthly rent of Tk 100 to be used as the press club headquarters.The building before 1947 was a residential house of Dhaka University and was once residence to physicist Satyendra Nath Bose.
The first life member of the club was N. M. Khan who was chief secretary of the provincial government. Mujibur Rahman Khan was the first president of the club. On 25 March Pakistan army started Operation Searchlight and shelled the club, the structure was completely destroyed. After the Independence of Bangladesh it was named the National Press club. In 1977 the building was leased to the club permanently and the government of Bangladesh covered the expense of a new building. In 1995 the Clubs logo and emblem were selected.
Structure
The National Press Club has three of membership, first is life membership, second is permanent membership for professional journalists and the third is associate membership for public relations personnel. Associate members do not get voting rights. The National Press club currently has about 800 members. The press club is managed by a 17 member executive council.