Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has on Wednesday unveiled a major announcement of increasing the compensation for the families of the journalists who died of the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement has come after the demands from the media persons who asked for an increase by citing their works on the frontline amid the pandemic and lockdown. 

The Chief Minister has increased the compensation given to the families of journalists, who died of COVID-19, from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. MK Stalin has also announced that the incentive for the journalists who have been reporting on the pandemic has been hiked to Rs 5,000 from Rs 3,000. The Chief Minister has also appealed to the journalists from print and television media to carry out their work by maintaining their safety and adhering to the government protocols during the pandemic. 

In a statement, MK Stalin has said, "Journalists are playing an important role in delivering important news and information to the people and creating awareness during the pandemic amid facing many hardships." He stated that the journalists are acting as a bridge between the government and the people. 

"To encourage them, all registered journalists and photographers/videographers working with print, television, and magazine across districts will receive an increased incentive amount", the Chief Minister added. According to reports, the registered journalists with at least one of the registrations like registration card and ID card from District Collector will be eligible to receive the hiked incentive from the government. 

MK Stalin has said that the previous government gave an incentive of Rs 3,000. After consulting the journalists, the government is increasing the incentive from Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000. The reports say several journalist organizations had demanded the state government to increase the incentive and compensation given for them as they have been working despite the pandemic. 

He highlighted that the previous government has provided Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the families of the journalists who died of the COVID-19 viral infection. Following the demands from journalists, the compensation will be increased to Rs 10 lakh. The major announcement from the Chief Minister has been welcomed by several journalists and they are expressing their gratitude to the government for paying heed to their demand. 

Stalin's announcement of increasing the compensation and incentive for journalists has come weeks after he declared the journalists as the frontline workers in the state for recognizing their on-ground works and reports amid the pandemic. On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu has reported 34,285 fresh COVID-19 cases, 28,745 discharges, and 468 deaths, the highest single-day death rate recorded by the state since the outbreak began. Overall, Tamil Nadu has recorded 19,11,496 COVID-19 cases so far as of Tuesday of which 3,06,652 are active, 15,83,504 have been discharged, and 21,340 had succumbed to the viral infection.