FNJ Province 1 to institute Rs 10 million funds for welfare programmes

Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) Province 1 Committee has decided to institute a fund worth Rs 10 million for the social security of journalists of the province.

FNJ Province 1 Committee came to this decision after the second full-fledged meeting of the provincial committee.

''This fund will be used for professional journalists affected by pandemic, disasters and other varied troubles,'' informed Lawa Dev Dhungana, the Vice-President of FNJ Province 1 Committee. According to Dhungana, the name of the fund will be 'Journalist Welfare Fund, Province No. 1''.

''We will manage the entire fund within the tenure of this committee,'' said elated Dhungana. He said the fund would be a good welfare programme for around 1300 journalists who are members of FNJ Province No. 1 and others.

Issuing the press release of the decisions of a second full meeting of FNJ Province 1 Committee, Bibek Gautam, the General Secretary, informed that four journalists have succumbed to COVID-19 in the province and 125 have been infected.

Likewise, four departments have been created namely organisational, women, inclusion and Dalit. General Secretary Bibek Gautam will lead an organisational department, Vice-President Himakumari Chemjong will head the women department and Secretary Santosh Yadav and working committee member PB Diyali will chair inclusion and Dalit departments respectively.

The meeting has also urged all media operators to pay pending dues of all working journalists from their respective organizations and has asked the government to support startup news media outlets run by working journalists themselves.

Now, FNJ Provincial Committee will issue an identity card of all members of journalists within the province that was previously issued from FNJ Central Committee, said General Secretary Gautam in the press release. Likewise, the meeting has requested all insurance companies to pay pending insurance amounts to all journalists in the province.