Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 20 May: The state government on Thursday declared media personnel, including journalists, camera persons and backend office staffers registered with the Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) and the Arunachal Press Club (APC) as frontline workers (FLW), in view of their involvement in containment surveillance and related awareness activities in the face of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in the state.
The media persons registered with the APUWJ and the APC have been asked to register themselves at vaccination centres after providing necessary details such as relevant certificates from the IPR director, duly countersigned by the deputy commissioner of the district concerned, as well as valid ID cards issued by the APUWJ/APC/IPR director, mobile number, etc, for due verification.
Welcoming the move, the APUWJ and the APC expressed gratitude to the state government for including the media personnel in the FLW category. The press bodies further stated that inclusion of media personnel in the FLW category was long overdue, considering the nature of their work.
“Media personnel are as vulnerable as other frontline workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Media personnel expose themselves to the virus during field reporting,” the press bodies said in a statement.
