TDP Anagani Satya Prasad asks CM YS Jagan to declare journalists as Covid warriors

Mangalagiri: Telugu Desam Party MLA Anagani Satya Prasad on Sunday wrote a letter to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy urging him to immediately issue an order declaring the journalists as the Coronavirus warriors in Andhra Pradesh.

Satya Prasad stressed on the need for coming to the rescue of media persons who are working amidst the prevailing adverse conditions in the pandemic. The government should give accreditations to all the working journalists and provide them vaccines and medical facilities to survive the virus threat.

The TDP MLA told the Chief Minister that the journalists are facing unprecedented crisis in the second Covid wave. It was is known how the media remained the fourth pillar of democracy.

Over 7,000 journalists are working all over the State in both the print and electronic media. Now, the journalists' associations are not able to fight for the rights of their members since they were removed from the accreditation committees at the State and the district levels.

Satya Prasad said that since the YSRCP came to power in 2019, the accreditations are not being given to these journalists. Tough rules are introduced to deny accreditations in the name of circulation figures. Over 60 journalists died due to the Covid infections during the second wave alone. Hundreds of journalists and their families are admitted to hospitals and unable to pay huge amounts.

The TDP MLA demanded the government to give vaccine and medicines to the journalists immediately. At least Rs 2 lakh financial support should be provided to the infected journalists' families. Already, the journalists are declared as Covid warriors in Orissa, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Satya Prasad stressed on the need for giving Rs 20,000 financial assistance to every journalist's family to help deal with the epidemic threat. The media persons are risking their lives to continue to work in their line of duty. Oxygen supply, ventilators and hospitals beds should be specially allotted to the journalists who are on duty in every district, he demanded.