Chandigarh 31 may( Wishavwarta )-The media is going through a tough times and as always the journalists are at the receiving end.
It started with a salary cut and almost all the media houses, across the verticals, have made a salary deduction. Some of the media houses have not even paid the salary of March month till date. Some are waiting for their last month’s salary.
Now the things are turning even more ugly with massive layoffs. In this month only, there was a massive retrenchment, across the country and in the Chandigarh region too.
According to Mr Sourav Duggal Secretary General , Chandigarh Press club in month over 35 of our fellow journalists have lost their jobs in our region. Even some of them who are not directly on rolls of the organizations, either working full time as a retainers or their contracts happens to end during the layoffs period, haven’t even got any severance package.
Mr Duggal said ,it’s an unfortunate event and being part of the same fraternity, it has become our duty and responsibility to stand with our media friends, fellow colleagues in this hour of crisis. And work on in helping them to get back in the main stream. For many of them it is about the question of their and their families’ survival.
In the current circumstances, due to COVID-19, we cannot have an open house. So, we request everyone to come up with the suggestions/idea individually how we can help/contribute our friends in getting back them to the main stream, looking for suitable alternate jobs or freelance work for them, strengthening the laws in reference to the journalists and their jobs, etc…
Many of our members are in senior positions and are also associated with independent media, so they can also play a very vital role.
It is a question of our comradery. So, lets work/stand for our own fraternity, for our own people, for our own friends.
You can forward your suggestions by email, telephonically or we can meet at the Club in small groups by fixing a particular time.
The governing council is already in touch with the reporters/desk/designers/photographers, who have lost their jobs, and preparing a data.
Let’s stand by each other in these uncertain times, hoping current crisis makes us only stronger together.