Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Guwahati: The Assam Union of Working Journalists is demanding that Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma adopt welfare measures modeled after West Bengal. Union leaders Madhusudhan Medhi and Anjan Kumar Sarma issued a statement pressing the government to match perks currently offered across the border. West Bengal recently bumped retired journalists' pensions to Rs 5,000 monthly, added health insurance, and issued a Rs 3,000 Durga Puja grant.
Assam has operated a pension scheme since 2017, but the union says it is not enough. They want higher payments and a broader base of beneficiaries. Medical costs are hitting workers hard. The union slammed the current Journalist Medical Welfare Scheme managed by the Directorate of Information and Public Relations, or DIPR, as ineffective. Reimbursements are sparse and the review committee rarely meets.
Accreditation remains a mess. Many journalists still lack DIPR identity cards despite waiting for months. "The union said it had raised the issue with Chief Minister Sarma on July 4." Even after the Principal Secretary ordered the DIPR Director to move, nothing changed for two months. Now the union wants the DIPR Commissioner and Director to intervene immediately. They also demand that all stagnant welfare committees be dissolved and reconstituted.
The group expects the government to announce the next pension phase by January 1. They insist that the state must finally address these social security gaps for media workers.
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