Telangana Media Academy has provided financial assistance of ₹5.15 crore to COVID-affected journalists since last year.
Academy chairman Allam Narayana said Telangana was the only State in the country to have extended financial assistance to journalists who battled the infectious disease. In the first wave, aid amounting to ₹3.16 crore was given to 1,553 journalists who contracted the virus while ₹8.70 lakh was given to those who were home-quarantined after testing positive.
In the second phase, he said, 1,958 journalists were helped with a total amount of ₹1.95 crore. The money was granted from the interest accrued from the Academy’s corpus fund of ₹34.50 crore.
Mr Narayana thanked Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for providing ₹42 crore to journalists’ welfare fund.
He added that about 70 journalists passed away due to COVID in the past one year and their families would soon be given ₹2 lakh assistance each. This is apart from ₹3,000 pension provided to such families for five years. Families of deceased journalists can apply to Secretary, Telangana State Media Academy, Samachar Bhavan, Masab Tank, with all the details.
