West Bengal doubles retired journalists' pension to Rs 5,000 from September 1

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday announced doubling the monthly social security pension for retired journalists to Rs 5,000 with effect from September 1 and also launched the distribution of health cards under the Mukhyamantri Swasthya Bima Yojana.

The announcement was made at a programme attended by representatives of the Press Club and senior journalists.

Journalists to get Rs 5 lakh health cover

Under the health scheme, journalists and their families were eligible for cashless treatment of up to Rs 5 lakh at empanelled hospitals across the country, Adhikari said.

He highlighted that the health insurance facility would cover around 38,000 government and private hospitals across India, including AIIMS, Christian Medical College (CMC)-Vellore, Tata Cancer Hospital in Mumbai, PGIMER-Chandigarh, and Dr Reddy's Hospital in Hyderabad.

Within West Bengal, the facility would be available at around 1,900 government and private hospitals, besides those covered under the Ayushman Bharat scheme across the country, he said.

Contrasting it with the previous government's similar scheme, Adhikari said the TMC dispensation's Swasthya Sathi scheme provided cashless treatment in just around 1,700 hospitals in the state.

Journalists and their family members who are not eligible for Ayushman Bharat due to specified conditions or age-related criteria would be brought directly under the Mukhyamantri Swasthya Bima Yojana, he said.

The process would be overseen by Information and Cultural Secretary Dr Soumitra Mohan and Health Secretary Narayan Swaroop Nigam. No political or ministerial recommendation would be required to avail the benefits, the chief minister said.

Pension widened to cover more retired journalists

About the revised pension scheme, Adhikari said it would cover a wider section of retired journalists, including those who had worked in news desks or did not have press accreditation cards, subject to meeting eligibility criteria.

He said around 150 retired journalists were currently receiving the monthly social security allowance of Rs 2,500.

Referring to the budgetary announcement by Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta and an earlier proposal by state BJP president Shamik Bhattacharya, the chief minister said the government would seek to bring more journalists and media personnel under the pension scheme.

Durga Puja assistance raised for journalists

He also announced that the government has removed the disparity in financial assistance provided to journalists in Kolkata and in the districts during Durga Puja.

While journalists in Kolkata earlier received Rs 2,000 and those in the districts Rs 1,000, all eligible applicants would now receive Rs 3,000, Adhikari said.

He said that the revised schemes aim to bring a larger number of journalists and media workers, particularly those employed by private organisations, under a social security framework.

The selection would be based on prescribed eligibility criteria, and the process would be made more transparent, Adhikari said, adding that eligible journalists should not be denied benefits for extraneous reasons.

He said the objective was to ensure that the benefits were not restricted to the existing pool of around 150 beneficiaries but reached a substantially larger number of eligible media personnel.

Adhikari calls press 'fourth pillar' of democracy

Adhikari described the press as the "fourth pillar" of democracy and urged journalists to continue providing constructive criticism of the government.

While criticism of the government and the ruling party would be accepted, he appealed to the media to remain responsible on issues concerning national interest and patriotism.

"Freedom of speech is guaranteed by the Constitution, but we must maintain the principle of nation first," Adhikari said, adding that words that could weaken the country or hurt religious sentiments should be avoided.