IT Correspondent
New Delhi, Feb 19:
The Union Government on Monday approved the proposal of the Press Information Bureau’s journalist welfare committee (JWC) to provide as financial relief Rs 5 lakh each to families of 39 journalists who died due to the coronavirus.
The Narendra Modi government has earmarked an additional fund for this purpose for the JWC under which the journalists across the country will be covered under the scheme. In its meeting, the JWC decided to provide Rs 5 lakh to the family members of 39 deceased journalists.
The JWC meeting was held under the chairmanship of Union Information and Broadcasting Secretary Amit Khare. Additional Secretary Neerja Shekhar, Joint Secretary Shri Vikram Sahay and Press Information Bureau (PIB) Principal DG K S Dhatwalia were present at the meeting. Santosh Thakur, a member JWC, Amit Kumar, Umeshwar Kumar and Ganesh Bisht represented journalists in the meeting.
The JWC discussed other welfare measures for journalists which include health insurance and life insurance schemes. The issue of including journalists in the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme was also discussed at the meeting.
The journalists who have some serious illness or have become handicapped while in service can also apply for financial help from the government through the JWC. Besides, the family members of journalists who have died while on duty can also apply for financial aid. The PIB has given a link on its website where a journalist or his family members can write to the government for help.