Rs 6.06 crore allocated for journalists' welfare fund this financial year: Govt

The government has announced that a sum of Rs. 6.06 crore has been approved during 2021-22 for financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh per family to the families of 123 journalists who died due to COVID-19.

New Delhi: The government has allocated Rs 6.06 crore for the journalists' welfare fund this financial year, nearly three times more than the amount apportioned last year, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said on Tuesday.

The ministry told the Lok Sabha that on the basis of applications received by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) and which fulfill the criteria laid under the Journalist Welfare Scheme (JWS), a sum of Rs. 6.06 crore has been approved during 2021-22 for financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh per family to the families of 123 journalists who died due to COVID-19.

"The fund allocation of the scheme has increased over the last three years," Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur said in written response to a question.

According to the figures, in 2019-20, a sum of Rs 1.5 crore was allotted under the scheme, in 2020-21 it was Rs 2.6 crore and in 2021-22 it increased almost three times to Rs 6.06 crore.

On another query, the minister cleared that the scheme does not provide for employment related assistance to journalists.

Among the 123 journalists who succumbed to the coronavirus infection, 28 were from Uttar Pradesh, 12 from Maharashtra, and 11 each from Delhi and Rajasthan. The remaining were from 15 other states.

PTI