New Delhi: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has formed a 10-member committee led by Ashok Kumar Tandon, member of Prasar Bharati to take a look at the guidelines of journalists Welfare Scheme under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and suggest changes in norms to help working journalists affected in the wake of outbreak of COVID-19.
The Journalists Welfare Scheme which has been in existence for years needs a relook from a futuristic perspective and broad-basing the coverage for the benefit of the journalists. The definition of “working journalists” was revised with the enactment of Occupational, Safety, Health and Working Condition Code 2020, to incorporate journalists working in both traditional and digital media. “It was also considered necessary to look at the possible parity between accredited and non-accredited journalists from the perspective of welfare and availing of benefits under the scheme,” stated a Ministry notification.
The Ministry has taken several pro-active steps for grant of ex-gratia payment to families of journalists who died due to COVID-19 and such assistance has been given in over 100 cases at the rate of Rs 5 lakh each.
The report of the Committee, expected to be submitted within two months, would enable the Government to frame fresh guidelines to benefit journalists. The panel comprises The Week Resident Editor Sachidanand Murthy, freelance journalist Shekhar Aiyar, News 18 journalist Amitabh Sinha, Sishir Sinha of Business Line, Zee News correspondent Ravinder Kumar, Panchajanya Editor Hitesh Shankar, Kak Ramachandran of Hindustan Times, Amit Kumar of Times Now, Vasudha Venugopal (Economic Times) and Kanchan Prasad, Additional DG, Press Information Bureau.
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