Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday announced that all accredited and yellow card journalists in the state will be included in the list of frontline warriors in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
All power corporation employees in the state have also been brought under the ambit of frontline workers.
These employees, along with the journalists, will now be eligible for all the benefits that the frontline workers are entitled to, including priority vaccination, the Chief Minister said at a high-level Covid review meeting.
Journalists have been taking grave risks in covering the pandemic from the ground and helping to spread awareness about the virus for the past more than a year, the Chief Minister said.
They need to be protected, he said, adding that though many states had raised the demand for their inclusion in the frontline workers category, the government of India has not responded so far.
The Punjab government, therefore, has decided to provide frontline protection to the journalists and also power corporation employees, who too are endangering their lives while maintaining critical power services in hospitals and other vital institutions.