PunjabChief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday announced all accredited andyellow card journalists in the state to be included in the list of frontlinewarriors in the fight against Covid.
AllPower Corporation employees in the state have also been brought into the ambitof frontline workers.
Theseemployees, along with the journalists, will now be eligible for all benefits,including priority vaccination, that frontline workers are entitled to from thestate government, said the Chief Minister at a high-level Covid review meeting.
Journalistshave been taking grave risks in covering the pandemic from the ground, and helping spread awarenesson it, for the past more than one year, said the Chief Minister. They need tobe protected, he said, adding that though many states had raised the demand fortheir inclusion in frontline workers category, the Government of India had sofar not responded.
Hisgovernment, therefore, had decided to provide the frontline protection to thejournalists and also Power Corporation employees, who are also endangeringtheir lives while maintaining critical power services in hospitals and othervital institutions.