Tripura Government To Cover 1000 Journalists Under Health Insurance : ICA Minister – Sushanta Chowdhury – NorthEast Today

Abhijit Nath, NET Correspondent, Tripura 

Agartala, March 27, 2022 : The Information & Cultural Affairs (ICA) Minister of Tripura – Sushanta Chowdhury on Saturday asserted that state government has decided to bring around 1000 journalists in the state under health insurance coverage.

Addressing the event of Hiranmoy Chakraborty Smriti Puruskar (Memorial Award) at Agartala Press Club, Chowdhury said that the Tripura government has already announced many decisions for the interest of media and journalists across the state.

A number of decisions would be announced in the coming days, he added.

Minister said “Despite obstacles and adversities, the government is working for the journalists. The Department of Information and Cultural Affairs aimed to bring 1,000 government-approved accredited journalists under health insurance. Journalists will be covered by health insurance for Rs 3 lakh rupees per annum”.

Citing the formalities of the insurance benefit, Chowdhury said that government will give 80 percent of the coverage and journalists will bear rest 20 percent.

At present, a total of 166 journalists avail the benefits of accreditation and this decision will be implemented within a span of seven days, he also added.

Late veteran journalist Jitendra Chandra Pal, posthumously awarded with the Hiranmoy Chakraborty Memorial Award and Pranab Sarkar, Secretary of Agartala Press Club received award for his exemplary contribution in the field of journalism. The award of late Jiten Pal was taken by his son Manas Pal.

The prize money of Rs 10,000 was given back to the Journalist Welfare Fund on behalf of the two award winners.

In this programme, Agartala Press Club president and veteran journalist Subal Kumar Dey, Club vice-president and veteran journalist Arun Nath, Club’s secretary and senior journalist Pranab Sarkar, Sports secretary and journalist Alok Ghosh and others were also present.