The Telangana government on Monday announced financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of journalists who have succumbed to COVID-19. Between April 13 and 22, 13 journalists are said to have succumbed to the disease. All of them were said to be working with different print electronic media houses in the state.
Telangana State Media Academy (TSMA) Chairman Allam Narayana in a statement said that the assistance is being given by the Telangana government with Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s (KCR) special intervention. He said that the decision was taken in view of the requests from the Telangana Union for Working Journalists (TUWJ) and other journalist organisations. In a statement, he confirmed that Rs 2 lakh would be given to each of the bereaved families.
The chairman asked the concerned families to send applications for receiving financial assistance to the State Media Academy Office by furnishing the COVID-19 death certificate and accreditation details besides COVID-19 positive report undersigned by the District Medical and Health Officer and District Public Relations Officer (DPROs).
The TSMA has also demanded the state government to acknowledge the journalists as frontline warriors and provide COVID-19 tests and vaccination, and also arrange special medical facilities.
As per the reports and journalist associations, the deceased journalists were identified as:
Jayaprakash, journalist, Karimnagar District, Telangana (April 13)
Srinivas, reporter, Andhra Jyothi Telugu Daily, Yacharam, Rangareddy District, Telangana (April 16)
Sainath, reporter, 99tv, Nirmal District, Telangana (April 17)
D Ashok, reporter, Andhra Bhoomi, Nizamabad District, Telangana (April 17)
Bura Ramesh, journalist, Vemulawada, Sircilla District, Telangana (April 20)
P Ramesh, journalist, Karimnagar, Telangana (April 20)
K Amarnath, senior journalist, Hyderabad, Telangana (April 20)
Ch Naga Raju, reporter, Eenadu, Siddipet District, Telangana (April 21).
Ramachandra Rao, sub-editor, Sakshi, Hyderabad, Telangana (April 21)
Kalpana, CEO, Bathukamma TV, Hyderabad, Telangana (April 21)
Tataiah, senior journalist, Ongole, Andhra Pradesh (April 22)
Chandrashekar Naidu, reporter, NTV Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh (April 22)
Srinivasa Rao, reporter, Prajashakti Daily, Jaggaiahpet, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh (April 22)