Indus Valley Times

By A K Sahoo

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 23:  Odisha Union of Journalists ( OUJ ) on Sunday  observed 48th Foundation Day in a dignified way.

The occasion was graced by two senior ministers of – water resources and information and public relations minister Raghunandan Das and state energy, home and MSME minister Captain Divyashankar Mishra.

In his address, minister Mr Das said the government was aware of the demands of journalists in the state and it was taking all possible steps to fulfill them.

“My department is fully aware of all your demands. Besides, I’m taking personal interest to study and address your problems. We will fulfill all your demands after due diligence,” said Mr Das.

Minister Captain Mishra assured the journalists to look into the demands of enactment of Journalist Protection Act and pensions of the scribes after superannuation.

OUJ president Prasanna Mohanty drew the attention of the ministers to some burning problems faced by the scribes and urged them for urgent actions. He demanded early enactment of Journalists Protection Act and enhancement of insurance coverage from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

Over one thousand journalists from 30 districts participated in the foundation day celebration.

 OUJ presented a five-point charter of demands to the Chief Minister  Naveen Patnaik through the two ministers demanding early implementation of various proposals concerning demands of scribes.

Veteran journalist Nimai Charan Mohanty was conferred with OUJ Samman while Bibhuti Biswal, Prakash Chandra Panigrahi, Haldhar Dhir and Sisir Kumar Das were felicitated on the occasion.

Bhubaneswar Central MLA Ananta Narayan Jena were among others who graced the occasion.