Covid-19 deaths: Centre okays assistance to families of 67 journalists

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Press Information Bureau had compiled and collated the details of journalists who lost their lives due to the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 and have started a special drive to provide assistance to their families under the Journalist Welfare Scheme (JWS), informed the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on Thursday.

According to the ministry, the Central Government today approved a proposal of the Journalist Welfare Scheme Committee headed by Amit Khare, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, to provide financial relief of Rs 5 lakh to each of the families of 26 journalists who died due to Covid-19.

In the financial year 2020-21, the Central Government provided such assistance to 41 families of the journalists deceased due to Covid taking the total number to 67.

The Press Information Bureau pro-actively reached out to the families of many journalists who lost their lives to Covid-19 and also guided them about the scheme and filing of claims, stated the ministry.

The committee also decided to hold JWS meetings on a weekly basis so that applications for financial assistance under JWS can be processed expeditiously. It also considered applications of 11 families of those journalists who had passed away due to reasons other than Covid-19.