Bhopal, July 31 (Pervez Bari): The Bharatiya Janata Party ruled Madhya Pradesh Government is going to implement yet another important decision in favour of journalists. With this, all the journalists in the state will be brought under security umbrella in case of accident.
Seventy-five percent of the premium of the Individual Accident Insurance Scheme for this purpose will be provided by the State Government. Details about the scheme can be obtained and application forms with share money can be submitted to District Public Relations Office by August 10.
An official Press release said on Friday that maximum number of journalists are being brought under security umbrella in case of accidents. With this, not only state and city-level journalists, but also the journalists working in the rural areas will get the benefit of this insurance scheme. The scheme will cover the media representatives working as correspondent, reporter, photographer or cameraman with any non-government news agency, television channel, net-media or news portal. However, such journalists should be domicile of the state with their area of work in Madhya Pradesh. They should also be between 21 and 70 years of age.
In connection with implementation of the scheme, the Public Relations Department is going to sign an agreement soon with a an insurance company, which is a public undertaking of the Union Government. The total amount of this insurance cover has been decided to be Rs. one lakh. The 75 percent of its annual premium will be borne by the Public Relations Department while the rest of 25 percent will have to be deposited by the journalist. This insurance cover will be for one year and will have to be renewed for next year after its expiry.
The application forms have been invited from the willing journalists in prescribed proforma by August 10, 2011. Arrangements have been made to provide application forms at District Public Relations Office for the benefit of journalists.
Information about format of application form, rules and conditions have been published in Madhya Pradesh Gazette. Information has also been made available on department’s website http://www.mpinfo.org/. (pervezbari@eth.net)