A legal notice has been served to the government asking to provide health safety equipment and special incentives to journalists amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Md Moniruzzaman Lincon sent the legal notice to the Information and Finance Ministries’ secretaries, and head of the country’s ‘corona prevention cell’ on Tuesday by email.
In the notice, the lawyer said no specific drug has been discovered yet for Covid-19 patients and social awareness has become the only recognized method of preventing the spread of the virus.
Media is contributing the most to create this social awareness with help from the journalists working in the field, he added.
Besides the healthcare professionals, journalists are playing the most important roles as they are providing the people with the latest news related to the coronavirus in the hope of winning the war against the virus by creating awareness among people, the notice also said.
There is no denying the fact that the work done by the journalists is extremely risky and that risk has increased with the emergence of the current coronavirus pandemic.
Through the journalists’ reports, the people of the country are able to know the facts regarding the current state of affairs, which helps them to become aware of the overall situation and take proper measures, the notice added.
The notice commented on the importance of ensuring the security of the journalists who are making the citizens aware by sharing news regarding the pandemic, not unlike a soldier engaged in combat in the battlefield.
The Supreme Court lawyer in his notice suggested that the authorities concerned see to it that the journalists are provided with essential safety kits like personal protective equipment (PPE) and special incentives to protect them from the effects of the pandemic.
The advocate also urged the respondents to take necessary steps to meet these requests within seven days.