A widely circulated video from News India 24x7 has exposed a dispute between the management and editorial leadership over hiring, document verification and payslips for dozens of journalists.

On Thursday, during a meeting at the newsroom, the channel’s chairman, Shailendra Sharma, publicly questioned the appointments made by editor-in-chief Rana Yashwant with the entire staff present. “Your joining was arranged by the channel’s editor-in-chief, Rana Yashwant, so he will pay your salaries,” he told employees. Pointing to a stack of papers on the table, he added, “All these documents are fake.” Sharma then left the room.

The next day, Sharma resigned as chairman, citing “irregularities and misconduct committed by some of those entrusted with the channel's operations”.

​​At the heart of the controversy are allegations by the management that several new hires were brought in without proper document verification and failed to submit required paperwork despite repeated reminders. The organisation’s HR manager, Tanu Sharma, told Newslaundry that several new recruits did not submit joining documents despite repeated emails. In some cases, she claimed, salary slips and other papers that were submitted were found to be fake.

However, Rana, who joined the channel in December last year, disputes this. “All the people he has arranged for their joining have complete documents.”

He was sharply critical of the chairman’s public remarks. “This kind of behaviour by the chairman shows his contractor mentality. There’s a difference between building a building and running a channel. If you don’t understand this, then you have no right to run a channel.”

“Any issue can be resolved. There is a method. What he (Sharma) did was absolutely vile, vulgar, obscene, indecent, and insulting. You can't arbitrarily cancel the recruitment of so many journalists who have been working in this industry for years and have made a place for themselves. You can't dismiss them by saying they are fake.”

Some employees claimed the salary was irregular. Sonal Dahiya, an anchor who joined on January 15 to host the 6 pm debate show “Bedhadak”, said she had been working for about a month and a half but had not received her salary. She said the salary had been offered in cash but she denied it as she wanted it transferred to her bank account. The management confirmed that some employees had been given salaries in cash. 

Meanwhile, speaking on the condition of anonymity, employees who were present at the Thursday meeting said that a message was sent around 10 am calling for a mandatory meeting in the afternoon. The meeting began with a discussion on why news content was not being consistently uploaded to digital platforms. It then shifted to appointments made after Rana’s arrival. 

However, Rana said the dispute concerns the appointment of around 16 people, including four anchors, three reporters and others working in output and digital. “These were not secret appointments,” he said.

“If there were discrepancies in these people’s documents, why did you remember them only after they had already worked for one and a half to two months? Now you’re saying their documents are fake, even though you’ve already paid them all a month’s salary.”

Rana took charge of News India 24x7 on December 15 last year after leaving India News. Soon after, more than 50 employees were let go and over 40 new hires were brought in.

“When I joined, the channel was completely fragmented. There was no division between different departments, nor was there any workflow. I created a workflow according to my own needs. I segregated different departments and hired capable people. To run an organisation, which is what every editor does.”

Shailendra Sharma could not be reached for comment.

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