Rs 5.05 crore approved for families of 101 journalists who succumbed to Covid: Government

NEW DELHI: The government approved Rs 5.05 crore for granting Rs 5 lakh each as assistance to the families of 101 journalists who died due to Covid-19, minister of state for health Bharati Pravin Pawar informed

Lok Sabha

on Friday.


Responding to a question,

Pawar

said in a written reply the

ministry of information and broadcasting

undertook a special drive for providing financial assistance to the families of such journalists.

"On the basis of applications received by the

Press Information Bureau

, which fulfill the criteria laid under the Journalist Welfare Scheme (

JWS

) administered by ministry of information and broadcasting, a sum of Rs 5.05 crore was approved during 2020 and 2021 for financial assistance at a rate of Rs 5 lakh/family to each of 101 families of journalists who died due to Covid-19," Pawar said.