Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu on Thursday told the House that the government woulddistribute Taka 83.50 lakh, rest of the allocated money, among the insolvent journalists soon.
“The government already distributed Taka 26.50 lakh among 23 insolvent journalists during the current fiscal year 2013-2014,” he said while replying to a question from treasury bench member AFM Bahauddin Nasim.
Considering journalist’s welfare, the government formulated the Journalist Assistance Fund/Grant Policy-2012.The government provides financial assistance to journalists under this policy, Inu said.
The minister informed the House that the government distributed Taka One crore among 185 journalists/deceased families in the FY 2012-2013, while Taka 50 lakh among 61 journalists/deceased families in FY 2011-2012. He said the government has also placed ‘Bangladesh Journalist Welfare Trust Act, 2013’ in the parliament.
aimed at creating a permanent structure for providing financial assistance to journalists.
If the bill is passed, then the government will be able to take more initiative for journalist’s welfare in future.
