The Information Ministry has sought Tk10 crore from the Finance Division as seed money to start a full-blown trust for the welfare of insolvent, wounded and ailing journalists and the families of deceased media professionals.
The ministry is also thinking about reducing the minimum amount of allowance or grant to Tk10,000 from the existing Tk50,000 floor that journalists can avail from the government by applying to the ministry.
Moreover, there is also a plan for making membership of the proposed Shangbadik Kalyan Trust (journalists’ welfare trust) mandatory for availing the grant or allowance facilities.
Last month, these matters were discussed at an inter-ministerial meeting at the ministry which was presided over by Information Secretary Mortuza Ahmed.
Shah Alamgir, director general of the Press Institute of Bangladesh; Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul, president of a factor of the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists; and Altaf Mahmud, president of the Dhaka Union of Journalists, were present at the meeting.
The journalist welfare policies were revised into a full-fledged bill called the Shangbadik Kalyan Trust Bill 2014, which was passed in parliament in May last year.
At present, there is an ad-hoc journalist welfare trust from which media people can avail financial benefits for ailments, compensation, etc by applying through the Information Ministry.
But that trust does not have any fund of its own and arranges the money for the applicants from various government funds such as that of the prime minister or the ministry’s own budgetary allocations.
The bill has a provision for forming a 13-member board of trustees with the information minister as the chairman and information secretary as the vice-chairman.
The trust would be a statutory body; its managing director will be appointed by the government who would also serve as the member-secretary of the board of trustees.
Information Secretary Motuza told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that the Bangladesh Sangbadik Kolyan Trust Policy is now being revised and will be put in place shortly in accordance with the Bill.
“A committee has already been formed to revise existing policy,” he said.
According to that bill, the following would be the members of the board of trustees: a director general-level officer to be nominated by the Prime Minister’s Office; a finance division officer with the rank and status of not below a joint secretary; director general of the Press Institute of Bangladesh; a joint secretary to the Information Ministry; two representatives from the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists; and three government-nominated journalists.
The board will decide on financial assistance to journalists, stipend for special contribution and special stipend to meritorious children of journalists.
