TDP Repalle MLA Anagani Satya Prasad took up the cause of protecting the rights of journalists in the Corona time. He wrote a letter to Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy, urging for declaring the journalists as the Coronavirus warriors in Andhra Pradesh. Orissa, Kerala, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and other States have already done it. The AP Government should give accreditations to all the working journalists and provide them vaccines and medical facilities to survive the virus threat.

Over 7,000 journalists were working all over the State in both the print and electronic media. Now, the journalists associations were not able to fight for the rights of their members since they were removed from the accreditation committees at the State and the district levels. Since the YCP came to power in 2019, the accreditations were not being given to these journalists. Tough rules were introduced to deny accreditations in the name of circulation figures. Over 60 journalists died due to the Corona infections during the second wave alone. Hundreds of journalists and their families were admitted to hospitals and unable to pay huge amounts.

The TDP MLA demanded the Government to give vaccine and medicines to the journalists immediately. At least Rs. 2 lakh financial support should be provided to the infected journalists’ families. The Government should give Rs. 20,000 financial assistance to every journalist’s family to help deal with the epidemic threat. The mediapersons were risking their lives to continue to work in their line of duty. Oxygen supply, ventilators and hospitals beds should be specially allotted for the journalists who were on duty in every district.