Bengal doubles pension for retired journalists to Rs 5,000, extends health cover to 38,000 hospitals

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday, September 1, announced that the monthly social security pension for retired journalists would be doubled to Rs 5,000 from September 1 and launched the distribution of health cards under the Mukhyamantri Swasthya Bima Yojana.

The announcements were made at a programme attended by representatives of the Press Club and senior journalists.

Under the health scheme, journalists and their family members would be eligible for cashless treatment of up to Rs 5 lakh at empanelled hospitals across the country, Adhikari said.

He said the health insurance facility would cover around 38,000 government and private hospitals across India, including AIIMS, Christian Medical College (CMC)-Vellore, Tata Cancer Hospital in Mumbai, PGIMER-Chandigarh and Dr Reddy's Hospital in Hyderabad.

In West Bengal, the facility would be available at around 1,900 government and private hospitals, in addition to hospitals covered under the Ayushman Bharat scheme across the country, he said.

Comparing the initiative with a similar scheme of the previous government, Adhikari said the TMC dispensation's Swasthya Sathi scheme provided cashless treatment at around 1,700 hospitals in the state.

Journalists and their family members who are not eligible for Ayushman Bharat because of specified conditions or age-related criteria would be brought directly under the Mukhyamantri Swasthya Bima Yojana, he said.

The implementation of the scheme would be overseen by Information and Cultural Secretary Dr Soumitra Mohan and Health Secretary Narayan Swaroop Nigam. No political or ministerial recommendation would be required to avail of the benefits, Adhikari said.

On the revised pension scheme, the chief minister said it would cover a wider section of retired journalists, including those who had worked on news desks or did not possess press accreditation cards, subject to the prescribed eligibility criteria.

Around 150 retired journalists are currently receiving the monthly social security allowance of Rs 2,500, he said.

Referring to a budgetary announcement by Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta and an earlier proposal by state BJP president Shamik Bhattacharya, Adhikari said the government would seek to bring more journalists and media personnel under the pension scheme.

He also announced that the disparity in financial assistance provided to journalists in Kolkata and those in the districts during Durga Puja had been removed.

While journalists in Kolkata earlier received Rs 2,000 and those in the districts Rs 1,000, all eligible applicants would now receive Rs 3,000, Adhikari said.

The revised schemes are aimed at bringing a larger number of journalists and media workers, particularly those employed by private organisations, under a social security framework, he said.

Selection would be based on prescribed eligibility criteria and the process would be made more transparent, Adhikari said, adding that eligible journalists should not be denied benefits for extraneous reasons.

He said the government wanted the benefits to reach a substantially larger number of eligible media personnel rather than remain limited to the existing pool of around 150 beneficiaries.

Describing the press as the "fourth pillar" of democracy, Adhikari urged journalists to continue providing constructive criticism of the government.

While criticism of the government and the ruling party would be accepted, he appealed to the media to remain responsible on matters concerning national interest and patriotism.

"Freedom of speech is guaranteed by the Constitution, but we must maintain the principle of nation first," Adhikari said, adding that words that could weaken the country or hurt religious sentiments should be avoided.