Mumbai: The ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) has constituted a ten-member committee headed by renowned journalist and member of Prasar Bharati Ashok Kumar Tandon to take a look at the existing guidelines of the Journalists Welfare Scheme (JWS) and make appropriate recommendations for changes therein.
This decision is considered significant in the light of the many changes that have taken place in the media eco-space including the loss of a large number of journalists due to COVID-19 and the broad basing of the definition of the “working journalists”.
The JWS which has been in existence for many years needs a relook from a futuristic perspective and broad basing the coverage for the benefit of the journalists of this country. With the enactment of the Occupational, Safety, Health and Working Condition Code 2020, the definition of the working journalists has been broadened to include within its fold those working in both traditional and digital media. Further, it was also considered necessary to look at the possible parity between accredited and non-accredited journalists from the perspective of welfare and availing of benefits under the scheme.
The MIB has in recent times taken proactive steps for grant of ex-gratia payment to the families of journalists who unfortunately died due to COVID-19 and such assistance has been given in over 100 cases at Rs five lakh each.
The committee is expected to give its report in a time-bound manner within two months. Its recommendations would enable the government to frame guidelines afresh for the benefit of the journalists. The committee headed by Ashok Kumar Tandon includes Sachidanand Murthy (resident editor - The Week), Shekhar Aiyar (freelance journalist), Amitabh Sinha (News 18), Sishir Kumar Sinha (Business Line), Ravinder Kumar (special correspondent - Zee News), Hitesh Shankar (editor – Panchjanya), Smriti Kak Ramachandran (Hindustan Times), Amit Kumar (Times Now), Vasudha Venugopal (Economic Times) and Kanchan Prasad (Addl DG, Press Information Bureau).
