Acceding to vehement demands from journalists’ bodies, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday announced in Bhopal that journalists will be included among Covid-19 frontline workers.
The move comes after several journalists lost their lives to Covid-19 and scores of others are battling the virus in various hospitals.
Amid the second Covid wave in India, clamour grew in Madhya Pradesh to include journalists among frontline workers that include health staffers, civic workers, frontline administrative cadre and others. Frontline workers get preference on facilities like Covid 19 vaccination and have a risk cover of Rs 50 lakh in case of death on duty.
ANI quoted Chouhan as saying, “Our journalist friends are performing duty religiously amid this dangerous corona times. We have decided to offer status of frontline workers to all the accreditedd journalists.”
However, a detailed order elaborating on the services and facilities to be extended to journalists is awaited from the state government.
Meanwhile, a section of the media questioned the move asking why non-accredited journalists weren’t included in this decision. There have been claims that a large section of journalists, who are still deprived of accreditation, won’t be able to avail the benefits.
States like Uttarakhand and Odisha have already included journalists among frontline workers already.
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