One Time Grant for Media Personality Scheme 2020 has been launched by the Assam Government. In this scheme, the state govt. will provide one time grant of Rs. 50,000 to journalists who have no affiliation to any political party. The scheme namely One Time Grant for Media Personality will come into immediate effect and will be an annual affair.
As per the official guidelines of the Assam One Time Grant for Media Personality Scheme, each journalist will get Rs. 50,000 annually. The major objective is to encourage journalists to become unbiased, truthful, and not becoming a puppet of any particular party.
The eligibility criteria for One Time Grant for Medial Personality Scheme is given below:
1) The applicant must be a permanent resident of Assam.
2) He / She must be a holder of an accredited or recognized card of DIPR, Assam.
3) The applicant must have a minimum of 15 years of experience.
4) The minimum age to apply is 40 years with no upper limit.
5) The annual income of the applicant should be less than Rs. 5 lakh.
6) Applicants must not have an affiliation with any political party.
All the photojournalists and video journalists must submit at least three still photographs or videos of events or happenings during the last 12 months. The journalists must remain effective and beneficial for the people in terms of development, unity, and integrity. Earlier in the assembly elections of the year 2011, the then Congress govt. led by CM Tarun Gogoi had formally distributed laptops to journalists. As per the guidelines issued by Preetam Saikia, Commissioner and Secretary of Information and Public Relations Department, around 20 journalists will be selected every year. It is also quite clear that any journalist canvasing grant or forging the information would be disqualified from the candidature.
The main objective of the One Time Grant for Media Personality Scheme is to support the journalists in pursuit of outstanding achievements. Moreover, this Rs. 50,000 Scheme for Journalists in Assam will also support the media personnel in their hour of need. The primary purpose is to uphold the dignity of media persons and to inspire and motivate media persons to excel in the field of journalism.
The official press release stated that payment from the Rs. 50,000 Scheme for journalists will be made from budgetary allocations earmarked for the scheme during FY 2020-21.