The family members of the seven working journalists of Ganjam who died of Covid-19 during the last pandemic, finally got justice from the State Government.
On the approval of the Chief Minister, Ganjam Collector Vijaya Amruta Kulange, distributed an ex-gratia payment of Rs 15 lakh through cheque to kin of each deceased.
Kulange hoped that the fiscal assistance would be of great help to the family members of the deceased scribes to meet their basic needs. A total amount of Rs 1.5 crore was released by the State Information and Public Relations Department out of “Working Journalist’s Welfare Fund” for the purpose, said the District Information and Public Relations Officer Rabinarayan Behera.
The deceased scribes are Gobinda Behera, who was Kukudakhandi Block Correspondent of Odisha Express, Naresh Kumar Behera, secretary of Odisha Files, Ratnakara Maharana of “Kalinga Jyoti” at Balipadar, Pradeep Kishore Sahu, the district Correspondent of Odia daily “Sambad” at Brahmapur, Kishore Chandra Das, correspondent of “Samaj” for Polasara, Karunakar Sahu, reporter of Odia daily “Anupam Bharat” for Sheragada and Nilaya Ranjan Pattnaik of Hinjili Block respectively.