'Rs 5.05 cr approved for kin of 101 scribes who succumbed to Covid'

New Delhi: The government approved Rs 5.05 crore for granting Rs 5 lakh each as assistance to the families of 101 journalists who died due to COVID-19, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar informed Lok Sabha Friday.

Responding to a question, Pawar said in a written reply the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting undertook a special drive for providing financial assistance to the families of such journalists.

"On the basis of applications received by the Press Information Bureau, which fulfill the criteria laid under the Journalist Welfare Scheme (JWS) administered by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, a sum of Rs 5.05 crore was approved during 2020 and 2021 for financial assistance at a rate of Rs 5 Lakh/family to each of 101 families of journalists who died due to COVID-19," Pawar said.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Bharati Pravin Pawar told Lok Sabha on Friday that over 1,000 claims have been settled and paid till August 4 under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package: Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting COVID-19.

In a written reply, she said the scheme was launched on March 30 last year to provide comprehensive personal accident cover of Rs 50 Lakh to 22.12 lakh healthcare providers, including community and private health workers, who may have been in direct contact and care of COVID-19 patients and could be at risk of being impacted by this.

The scheme is being implemented through an insurance policy from New India Assurance Company Limited, a public sector company under the Union finance ministry's department of financial services, the Minister of State for Health said.