Centre approves Rs 5 lakh assistance for families of 26 journalists who died of Covid-19 this year

The Centre on Thursday approved PIB's journalist welfare committee proposal to provide Rs 5 lakh financial aid to families of 26 journalists who died due to Covid-19 this year.

The Centre on Thursday approved the proposal of the Press Information Bureau's (PIB) journalist welfare committee (JWC) to provide Rs 5 lakh each as financial relief to families of 26 journalists who died due to Covid-19 this year. The government had provided such assistance to families of 41 journalists in 2020, taking the total number to 67 this year, an official statement from Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry said. "The Press Information Bureau under the guidance of Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, had compiled and collated the details of journalists who lost their lives due to the pandemic in the years 2020 and 2021 and started a special drive to provide assistance to their families under the Journalist Welfare Scheme," the statement added.