Chandigarh News: The Media Well-Being Association (MWB) of North India, led by National President Chandrashekhar Dharni and State Spokesperson Pawan Chopra, submitted a memorandum to Revenue Minister Vipul Goyal, pressing for the welfare of journalists.
The association urged that retired media personnel should receive a pension of ₹30,000 per month and be granted toll-free travel. It also requested that cashless medical treatment facilities for journalists, announced by Chief Minister Naib Saini, be implemented immediately. Further demands included unlimited free bus travel for accredited media, removal of distance restrictions, and allocation of reserved seats in Haryana Roadways buses for journalists, similar to MPs, MLAs, and freedom fighters.
Dharni highlighted that while other pillars of democracy—judiciary, legislature—receive toll exemptions, journalists, as the fourth pillar of democracy, should also be granted this facility.
Minister Vipul Goyal acknowledged the memorandum and assured that he would forward the demands to Chief Minister Naib Saini and personally advocate for their implementation. He praised MWB for its historical role in supporting journalists, noting initiatives during the first term of Chief Minister Manohar Lal, including raising journalists’ pensions from ₹10,000 to ₹15,000, and extending cashless medical treatment similar to government employees.
Dharni commended Goyal, calling him a man of his word and confident that the minister’s intervention would ensure the demands are met soon. He added that similar memorandums are being submitted to other state ministers and MPs to ensure the welfare measures are implemented without delay.
MWB also provides free life insurance coverage of ₹10 lakh to journalists without any membership fee and has extended financial assistance to journalists across various states.
