They wake us up each morning with a thud, come rain or sunshine. The newspaper that lands up at our doorstep or on our balcony as the first rays of the rising sun filter through our bedroom curtains makes the day’s first cup of tea much more enjoyable. People of the older generation will vouch for the unique pleasure of reading news while sipping morning tea.
None of us, however, ever spare a thought for the newspaper hawkers who religiously deliver us our morning fix of news braving all odds. But under the caring leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, an initiative has been launched to bring newspaper hawkers of the state under the social security net. Yesterday, he announced COVID assistance and accident compensation for them.
Making the announcement, Patnaik said that the state government is taking steps to cover the hawkers under social security as they have been discharging their duty during the COVID pandemic taking huge personal risks. As part of the package, the state government will pay Rs 6,000 as special COVID assistance to each of them. The assistance will be paid to 7,259 recognized hawkers.
He also announced compensation for accident victims among the hawkers. In case of death of a hawker in an accident, the government will pay Rs 2 lakh as compensation to the family concerned while the amount will be Rs. 1 lakh in the event of natural death. If any hawker loses both limbs in a mishap, he or she will be entitled to a compensation of Rs 80,000 and in case of loss of one limb, the amount will be Rs. 40,000.
Stating that a detailed database of newspaper hawkers was being prepared, Patnaik said they will be provided identity cards to facilitate their work. The government is also planning to build work sheds for them at the district level.
A media-friendly leader, the Chief Minister had earlier provided much required financial assistance to working journalists and also declared them as frontline COVID warriors given that they have been covering news diligently during the pandemic. Some time ago, the government had announced compensation to the tune of Rs. 2.55 crore to the family members of 17 working journalists who succumbed to COVID-19.
A proposal with regard to the payment of compensation had been put forward by the I&PR department led by its dynamic principal secretary, Bishnupada Sethi, and it was promptly approved by the Chief Minister who has always appreciated the good work being done by journalists under the most trying circumstances. Thus, an assistance of Rs. 15 lakh each was sanctioned for the families of 17 working journalists of the state who died after being infected by the deadly coronavirus. The media fraternity, of which newspaper hawkers too are a part, has been extremely thankful to the five-time Chief Minister for his support.
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