<span style="color: #222222;">Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur has said that the Government is committed to ensure the right to freedom of speech and expression enshrined in the Constitution. <br />''<br />''In a written reply in Rajya Sabha today, Mr Thakur said, Press Council of India, PCI, a statutory autonomous body has been set up to preserve the freedom of the Press and improve the standards of newspapers and news agencies in the country. Mr Thakur said, PCI is also empowered to take suo-motu cognizance in matters on pressing issues concerning freedom of Press and safeguarding of its high standards.<br />''<br />''The Minister said, the World Press Freedom Index is published by a foreign Non-Government-Organization, Reporters Without Borders and the Government does not subscribe to its views and country rankings. <br />''<br />''He said, Government does not agree with the conclusions drawn by this organization for various reasons including very low sample size, little or no weightage to fundamentals of democracy, and adoption of a methodology that is questionable and non-transparent.</span><br />