On May 4, 2021 the Uttar Pradesh government announced that journalists and their families will now get special consideration in the state and will be given priority in vaccination against COVID-19.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath issued instructions to allot separate vaccination centres for journalists and their family members, who are above 18 years of age, an official statement said here.
The chief minister took the decision to recognise the efforts of journalists, who have become 'front line warriors' in India's fight against corona.
This important and laudable decision by the Yogi government to ramp up the vaccination drive across the state, where the Chief Minister declared journalists and media professional 'frontline workers', adding that they would be given priority in the COVID-19 inoculation program, it seems hasn't been conveyed to a lot of state government medical functionaries as various media outlets have reported.
www.bol-news.com will soon present an expose' on the same.
Earlier, Rajat Sharma, president NBA, had written to the CM to declare journalists and media persons 'front-line warriors' and give them priority vaccination. The CM announced the same and included non-accredited and freelance journalists in the ambit as well.
Before Uttar Pradesh, these states have already declared journalists front-line warriors.
* Odisha:
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik declared working journalists of the state as frontline COVID warriors for providing seamless news feed. He also announced an ex gratia of Rs 15 lakh for the next of kin of journalists who die of COVID-19 while performing their duty.
* Madhya Pradesh:
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday also declared all journalists as frontline workers. "Therefore, we have decided to declare all accredited journalists as frontline workers in Madhya Pradesh. They will be taken care of," Chouhan said in a statement.
* Bihar:
In Bihar, the Nitish Kumar government has also declared all journalists accredited with the Information and Public Relations Department as frontline workers who will get COVID vaccination on a priority basis. "Corona vaccine will be given to journalists on a priority basis in the state. Journalists have been performing their roles in a good way during the pandemic. They are making people aware of the dangers of corona infection," Kumar tweeted on Sunday.
* Punjab:
The Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in Punjab on Monday also announced that all accredited and yellow card journalists in the state will be regarded as COVID frontline warriors.
* West Bengal:
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who party Trinamool Congress (TMC) raced to victory in the recently concluded assembly elections, also declared all journalists as COVID warriors.
* Uttarakhand:
Earlier, the Uttarakhand government had also declared journalists as frontline COVID workers "for communication, spreading awareness and giving out correct information". "Since the time the lockdown started and the country eased it gradually, even officers and employees of the information department have been constantly involved in communication and spreading awareness about correct information in tasks related to fighting COVID-19," it had said in a statement.
* Tamil Nadu:
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin, who is set to become the next chief minister of Tamil Nadu, on Tuesday, May 4, declared that all media professionals will be considered as frontline workers in the state.
* Uttar Pradesh:
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath declared that journalists and media professionals and their families would be given priority in COVID vaccination drive in the country.
* Delhi:
The Arvind Kejriwal government also declared that all journalists and media personnel in the national capital will be provided COVID-19 vaccines for free at their offices.