At a railway station in Mumbai A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed before the Bombay High Court seeks to declare journalists and other staff in the media industry as essential or frontline workers and allow them to travel on the Mumbai local.
The PIL filed by Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh states that while as many as 12 states have declared journalists and media personnel as frontline workers, Maharashtra has not done so.
The PIL further states that during the Covid-19 pandemic, gathering news and making it reach people has become even more important and necessary.
The plea says that the media has played a key role in giving accurate information on the policies related to the Covid-19 pandemic, vaccination, functioning centres. It says that despite making representation before the Chief Minister on May 21, no decision has been taken to declare journalists as frontline workers and seeks the court’s intervention.
The PIL says that most journalists and other officials of the press come from modest households and trains are the most affordable mode of transport in Mumbai. Currently, travel on the Mumbai suburban trains is restricted to essential services.
Maharashtra on Saturday reported 225 fresh COVID-19 fatalities and 6,959 cases. With the new additions, the tally of infections in Maharashtra reached 63,03,715 and the death toll to 1,32,791. The count of recoveries now stands at 60,90,786, leaving the state with 76,755 active cases
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