The Karnataka High Court has issued notice on a petition filed seeking directions to the Government for compensating the families of media and newspaper delivery persons in case of their death due to COVID-19.
A Divison Bench comprising of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Suraj Govindaraj heard the petition stating that media houses should be directed to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation in the event of their employee’s death to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the petition, media reporters are interviewing the doctors, police personnel, government officials, patients and the family members of the patients infected by the coronavirus on a day to day basis, thereby putting themselves and their families under great risk of contacting the deadly virus. These people however have no social security benefits, and in the event of their unfortunate death during their duty, they have no means of being compensated by the management or the government.
According to the petition, media persons are at great risk of contracting the infection, and schemes should be made for their welfare which can also act as a psychological and moral boost to these people. These media people visit places of high risk such as hospitals, quarantine zones and containment Centers, without using Personal Protective Equipment and can easily get infected by the coronavirus
The petition also stated that the media persons should be provided with safety kits, masks, gloves and Personal protection equipment to the media persons who visit hospitals, quarantine Centers and containment zones and compulsory health check ups should be conducted to identify the suspected cases of corona virus. These press reporters and staff should not be terminated from their jobs and the salaries of these media persons should not be reduced.
The petition has noted the follow schemes for compensation made by different States:
- Providing Rs 50,00,000 as compensation to the kith and kin of Police personnel in case of their death by Maharashtra Government.
- Providing compensation of Rs 1 crore to the families of health care personnel, police, civil defence volunteers, teachers, fire service personnel etc. if any of these persons were die due to a coronavirus infection, by the Delhi Government
- Providing compensation to the kith and kin of Police personnel in case of their death due to a COVID-19 infection by the Madhya Pradesh Government.
The petition states that if such compensation is denied to media persons and their families and no social welfare scheme is made, it will be violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India, thereby making it highly unjust, inhuman and unethical.
-India Legal Bureau