COVID-19: UP govt to vaccinate journalists, family members on priority, to set up special inoculation centres

He also asserted that family members aged above 18 years of the journalists would also be vaccinated. (File image)

Coronavirus vaccination in India: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced that state journalists along with their family members would get special consideration, and would receive coronavirus vaccination on priority. According to a report in IE, for this purpose, special vaccination centres would be established in the state. Acknowledging the efforts made by the journalists to cover the ground situation during the pandemic even as it puts their own lives at risk, the CM asked officials to make sure that every journalist received vaccination. He instructed the authorities to go to the workplaces of journalists and administer jabs for free if needed.

He also asserted that family members aged above 18 years of the journalists would also be vaccinated.

The report cited the statement as saying that numerous journalists and freelance reporters in the state are associated with electronic media, online portals as well as newspapers, and they have been working without any restrictions on work timings. Taking cognisance of this situation, the state government decided to provide vaccination to journalists as well as their families on a priority basis so that they are protected from the virus. The statement also said that based on CM Adityanath’s instructions, the officials had begun work on prioritised inoculation of journalists and for this, allocation of special vaccination centres had also begun at a rapid pace.

Apart from this, the report cited the government as saying that all journalists, including those who are not accredited and who are freelancers, would be included in the benefits of the Centre welfare scheme providing a financial aid of Rs 5 lakh to the dependents of a journalist in the event of the journalist’s death. To be eligible for this, a journalist would either have to be Government of India-recognised, or recognised by any state government or UT. Otherwise, they must be or have been associated with any print, digital or electronic media organisation for a minimum period of five years. The government also said that keeping in mind the fact that media organisations have been continuously working since the pandemic started, they could be called “frontline warriors”.