Kathmandu, April 4 -- Amid a series of moves at controlling news publishers and limiting access to information, the government now has moved a step further which, stakeholders say, is in violation of the country's constitution.

Last month, the Department of Information and Broadcasting under the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology issued a circular asking media houses to furnish a copy of the payroll and bank details-including the account number-of each journalist to the department. The circular, as per the department, is part of its move to ensure that journalists' minimum wage was implemented by the media houses.

But there is something amiss in the government's directive, according to proponents of press freedom and p...