Bangladesh Journalists’ Welfare Trust Bill 2014 was passed in the Jatiya Sangsad yesterday to ensure financial assistance for the media personal during for unforeseen emergencies.
According to the bill, the poor, insolvent, sick and wounded journalists as well as the family members of journalists who died of natural or unnatural reasons, will get financial help from the fund.
In this regard, a 13-member board of trustees would be formed while the information minister would be the chairman of the board and secretary of the ministry is the vice chairman.
Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu presented the bill in the Parliament and the legislators endorsed it by a voice vote with a minor amendment proposed by independent MP Rustum Ali Faraji.
Earlier on April 2, the minister placed the bill which was later sent to its Parliamentary Standing Committee for scrutiny.
The trust will have a statutory body and a government-appointed managing director who will act as member secretary, which fund would be divided into two parts, permanent fund and current fund, while the government is the main source of its funding.
The other office bearers are Principal Information Officer (PIO), a Prime Ministers’ Office nominated director general level official, a finance division officer whose rank not below a joint secretary, director general of Bangladesh Press Institute (PIB), joint secretary (Press) from the Ministry of Information, two BFUJ representatives and two government-nominated three journalists.
