Ambika Soni gives assurances on journalist wage boards

Union information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni today said it would be her endeavour to see that the recommendations of justice Majithia including wage boards for the newspaper industry were implemented soon.
         
"It will be my endeavour to see that the recommendations are not only accepted but the anomalies are also removed," she said at the annual meet of the Chandigarh Punjab Unit of Journalists (CPUJ) here.
          
Nobody could force the government to accept any unjustified demand, the minister said.
          
Indian Journalists Union president Suresh Akhouri and CPUJ chief Vinod Kohli urged the minister to ensure "that all the hurdles in the way of implementing the recommendations are cleared."
           
The minister also favoured the demand for treating Chandigarh on par with other metros for the purpose of allowances proposed by the wage boards.
           
She said her ministry had constituted a Rs10 crore Journalist Welfare Fund, out of which Rs90 lakh per year are spent towards helping scribes in case of any serious illness, accident, disability or casualty occurring during their course of work.
           
She said her ministry was formulating a scheme for scribes based on the pattern of an insurance scheme for journalists in Kerala.