In the wake of recent journalist deaths, scores of mediapersons today urged the government to provide them better safety provisions as well as pay adequate compensation to their families in the event of their demise due to attacks or any other untoward incident while being on duty.
During a meeting held by the Press Club of India (PCI) and Indian Women Press Corp (IWPC), journalists took a strong exception to the recent killing of two journalists- Rajdeo Ranjan in Bihar and Akhilesh Pratap Singh in Jharkhand.
They urged the government to enact a law that not only offers protection to journalists but also enable their families to be given adequate compensation in the event of their demise.
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"The journalists demanded that different methods be explored including approaching the Supreme Court to force the state and the Centre governments to enact this law that should also bring contractual journalists under the ambit of the Working Journalists Act," an official statement said.
"The meeting felt that there should be a time-bound program and the PCI and the IWPC should immediately draft a resolution and with other journalist bodies launch a campaign with Parliamentarians and the civil society to sensitise them to repeated attacks on mediapersons," it added.
