KOCHI:
Grievances of senior journalists in Kerala about their pension scheme can be addressed by the state government easily as it does not cause much financial burden, K Babu MLA said. As the number of beneficiaries is very little, meeting their demands to disburse pension as stated in the Pension scheme is not a big task, he said
He was addressing the family meet of senior journalists in Ernakulam, organized by Senior Journalists Forum district committee. Currently, the demands of journalists include disbursal of the enhanced rate of pension allocated in state budget, half-pension for the dependents of deceased beneficiaries, full pension for those who have attained retirement age , and reasonable increase in the pension for journalists in distress. Despite guidelines in the pension scheme about the disbursal of pension, senior journalists are not getting their due.
Former Union minister K V Thomas, T J Vinod MLA, CPI District President K M Dinakaran, BJP District President K M Shyju spoke at the meeting and expressed their solidarity with senior journalists.Forum President Ignatius Gonsalves presided. KUWJ Vice President Seema Mohanlal, Forum State President A Madhavan, State Vice President K G Mathai, State Secretary Hassan Koya and forum Secretary P O Thanckachan also spoke.
