Mumbai, Mar 18 : In a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Marathi Press Council Chief Trustee SM Deshmukh on Thursday demanded that the state government should extend Rs 5 lakh financial assistance to kin of the journalists who succumbed to the COVID-19.

“The central government has announced financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the relatives of the deceased journalists,” he wrote.

“Similarly, the state government should also provide assistance to the relatives of the deceased journalists. Between July 2020 and March 2021, 61 journalists have died in the state due to corona,” he mentioned.

Mr Deshmukh further demanded, “The government should give priority to journalists while vaccinating them and provide financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the relatives of the deceased journalists as they fall into the high risk category like health workers and police.”

He continued, “The state government should act as a nodal agency as the central government’s plan is time consuming and that the journalists in the state should get financial assistance from the central government as soon as possible.”(UNI)