Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India]: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday said that the government is ready to hold dialogue provided Naxalites have faith in the Constitution. Interacting with media persons in Pratappur, Baghel said, “The schemes of the state government being run in the Naxal-affected areas are winning the hearts of the tribal population. Now they are demanding to build roads and open camps. With the effective implementation of state government policies, the Naxal activities are confined to a few pockets in Chhattisgarh.”
“Naxalites should express their faith in the Constitution of India, and then we are ready to talk with them on any platform,” he emphasized highlighting the state government’s welfare schemes in Naxal-affected areas
Securiy forces have a long fight with naxals in forest areas of many states
Chief Minister Baghel was felicitated by media persons today for the decisions taken by the state government in the interest of the journalists. The Chief Minister announced the approval of Rs 10 lakh for ‘Patrakar Bhawan’ at Pratappur. It is worth mentioning that the state government has hiked the monthly pension for senior journalists under the ‘Senior Journalist Samman Nidhi’ from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. The age limit for the same has also been reduced from 62 years to 60 years. Besides, the limit of financial aid given to journalists under ‘Patrakar Kalyan Kosh’ has been increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh.
Similarly, new accreditation rules for journalists have been enacted, in which a provision has been made to give accreditation to journalists of TV channels, web portals, news magazines and news agencies. The accreditation quota for media institutions has been almost doubled. In a first, a provision has been made for accreditation of block-level journalists as well. A provision has also been made for providing financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of journalists who died due to COVID-19. The validity period of accreditation has been increased from one year to two years. (ANI)
