Skip to content Skip to navigation

Journos happy with budget sops

North East Union of Working Journalists appreciated Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for allocating various financial provisions for the benefit of scribes and media houses in the State. Placing the annual budget in the State legislative assembly on 7 February, Sarma proposed to launch the pension scheme for scribes and journalist family welfare funds from 2017-18 onwards.

Pointing out that many journalists dedicated their lives to the public service in the field of journalism and they need financial security after their retirement, the State finance minister proposed to constitute the journalist pension scheme in the line of litterateur, artist/artiste and sportspersons’ monthly retirement benefits.

Recognizing the critical role of professional journalism in social advancement, Sarma also proposed for a journalist family welfare fund for providing suitable financial assistance to the bereaved family members of journalists losing their lives while in service due to various reasons.

He also announced a media fellowship of rupees 50,000 to the interested journalists for pursuing higher studies in relevant fields of journalism. Twenty such fellowships would be awarded in the year 2017-18, guidelines of all these schemes would be prepared by the State Information & Public Relations department.

Asserting that the government has already released around rupees 22 crore till 31 January 2017 to clear the huge pending advertisement bills in various media outlets, Sarma announced to streamline the mechanism of making payment of advertisement bills regularly. “Expressing happiness over the proposals, we urge the Information & Public Relations department to formulate the guidelines properly. We would also like to appeal to the department to include all working journalists, irrespective of IPR recognition, with few years of uninterrupted experience in the State,” said a statement issued by the NEUWJ.

Author info

AT News's picture

Assam Times Staff. editor@assamtimes.org

Add new comment

Assamese Translator

Assam Times seeks English to Assamese translators!
Join our volunteer team.
Email editor@assamtimes.org.

Random Stories

Ranee faces fresh wrath

14 Feb 2014 - 6:44pm | AT News
Union minister Ranee Narah on Friday good the taste of BJP protest in Dibrugarh a day after she accused Sarbananda Sonowal of accepting bribe for Rajya Sabha polls from DoNER minister Pawan Singh...

Hazarika to be cremated on Tuesday

7 Nov 2011 - 3:12am | editor
Assam is well prepared to bid tearful farewell to veteran singer Bhupen Hazarika who passed away in Mumbai on Saturday. The mortal remains would reach Guwahati on Monday morning and would be kept...

Friendship, jealousy and murder in Nagaon

11 Feb 2012 - 2:00am | Pankaj Sharma
This story looks like a film script of a typical Bollywood movie with an anticlimax for one of the friends. According to the information given by Nagaon Police to media persons, on the November...

World Elephant Day celebrated at Nagaon

World Elephant Day celebrated at Nagaon

14 Aug 2013 - 3:07pm | Rituraj Phukan
Green Guard Nature Organization organized 'World Elephant Day 2013' program amongst fringe forest communities affected by intense Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) at the Karbi foothills, near Chapanala...

Other Contents by Author

Guwahati, December 2024: The Assam Chamber of Commerce is set to host a 5 KM Fun Run on January 5, 2025, at 6:00 AM, starting from the Gauhati Town Club, Judges Field, Panbazar. The event, spearheaded by Rupam Goswami, Chairman of the Assam Chamber of Commerce, aims to raise awareness about drug abuse and promote a healthy lifestyle. The fun run, themed “Run for a Cause,” invites participants from all walks of life to join hands in the fight against drugs. Registration for the event is priced at ₹250, with participants required to share a screenshot of their payment via WhatsApp to the organizers. The event promises exciting cash prizes for both male and female runners: ₹5,000 for first...
A protest by Congress party workers in Dispur escalated into chaos today as demonstrators attempted to gherao the Janata Bhawan in Guwahati, leading to multiple detentions including top party leadership. Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President Bhupen Borah and senior leader Ripun Bora were among those detained as fully-equipped police forces intervened to control the situation. The demonstration, sparked by the death of Congress worker Mridul Islam in Wednesday's tear gas shelling, saw protesters defying police barricades and staging sit-ins on the road. Some demonstrators attempted to breach police lines in front of the Janata Bhawan, intensifying the confrontation. In a related...
Guwahati, December 18, 2024: The School of Social Work at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Guwahati Off-Campus, held its first-ever Inhmukhawm: Field Work Organisations’ Meet on Wednesday. The event, themed "Buen Vivr: Co-building a Sustainable and Just Future," brought together nearly 100 participants, including grassroots organizations, NGOs, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) representatives. Aligning with the International World Social Work Day 2024, the gathering focused on social work, sustainability, and justice, providing a platform for dialogue, learning, and collaborative innovation to enhance student fieldwork initiatives. The event commenced with a warm...
Guwahati, Assam: The Business Incubation Center for Fisheries and Aquaculture (BICFA) at Guwahati Biotech Park (GBP), under the Department of Science, Technology & Climate Change, Government of Assam, successfully organized a three-day hands-on training program on Feed Analysis and Nutrient Composition of Animal and Fish Feed. The program aimed to educate startups, researchers, and students and was held at GBP and the Feed Testing Laboratory, Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary Sciences, Assam Agricultural University (AAU), Khanapara. Dr. Bula Choudhury, Senior Scientist at GBP and Convener of the program, welcomed the participants. She highlighted the vision of...
A transformative gathering of educators took place at the Mayflower Hotel in Guwahati, where 76 educators from 38 schools across Assam and Meghalaya came together for WWF-India’s Educators’ Conclave 2024 on November 29. The event focused on empowering educators to instill environmental stewardship and climate literacy in students, while sharing innovative strategies to make schools sustainable and eco-conscious hubs of learning. With the theme “Raising Generation 30,” the conclave explored actionable ideas for transforming education systems to address pressing environmental challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss. “The role of educators in shaping future environmental...
Chandigarh: Former cricketer and politician Navjot Singh Sidhu has shared an inspiring story of his wife's recovery from cancer, attributing her remarkable progress to a strict diet plan inspired by ancient Indian Ayurveda, Nobel Prize-winning research on autophagy by Yoshinori Ohsumi, and guidance from medical experts. The plan, Sidhu revealed, helped his wife recover in just 40 days after undergoing surgeries, chemotherapy, and targeted therapies. Speaking to the media, Sidhu expressed his gratitude for the holistic approach, which combined positivity, lifestyle changes, and a disciplined nutritional regimen. “Positivity, determination, and the right diet can create miracles,” he said...
The Directorate of Cultural Affairs under the Assam government marked its 53rd anniversary with a historic event celebrating the recognition of Asomiya (Assamese) as a classical language. Held at the iconic Rabindra Bhawan, the evening highlighted the significance of this achievement and charted a roadmap for the language's preservation and growth in written and colloquial forms. The courtyard of Rabindra Bhawan, adorned with vibrant decorations and a podium beneath lush Bokul trees, hosted an enthusiastic audience of dignitaries and scholars. As the sun dipped below the Brahmaputra’s horizon, the program commenced with three distinguished panelists sharing their insights. The...
Tensions escalated in Manipur’s violence-hit Jiribam district on Sunday night as clashes between security forces and protesters turned deadly, officials reported. A young protester, identified as 21-year-old K. Athouba, was fatally shot amid the chaos. A police official confirmed that an investigation is underway to determine who fired the fatal shot, while protesters allege that a Manipur Police special commando unit was responsible. Two others were reported injured in the incident. The violence erupted as mobs attacked and vandalized properties belonging to political leaders and various party offices. According to police reports, the unrest began at Babupara before spreading to other...
The body of a tiger was discovered in the Horonbali Chapori area of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, located in Assam’s Biswanath district, on Monday. Forest guards came across the carcass during a routine patrol and alerted senior officials, who subsequently arrived at the scene to recover the remains. Preliminary findings suggest that the tiger may have died as a result of a fight with another tiger. To confirm the exact cause of death, samples will be sent to a forensic laboratory for further analysis. The disposal of the carcass was carried out under the supervision of senior forest officials and veterinary doctors. Kaziranga National Park, recognized as a Tiger Reserve...
Guwahati Police has successfully busted a cybercrime gang involved in a major fraud operation. Eight individuals were arrested following a raid at a lodge in Boragaon. The gang was operating a network of "mule bank accounts" to facilitate the transfer of illegally obtained money. The arrested individuals were involved in opening bank accounts using fake identities and documents. They would then hand over these accounts to cybercriminals who used them to launder money obtained through online scams. The police seized numerous items, including mobile phones, ATM cards, cheque books, and electronic devices, from the arrested individuals. A case has been registered against the accused, and...