Following the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020, the Press Council of India (PCI) received numerous complaints that media groups had begun mass scale retrenchments of journalists, with most of them not being given any severance benefits. This left a large number of journalists without jobs and without the means to support their families.
To understand and address the problem, a sub-committee of the Press Council was set up that included:
– Gurbir Singh,
– Prajnanda Chowdhury,
– P. Sainath
– Snehashis Sur
– L.C. Gupta, and
– Cyril Sam.
After receiving inputs from a large number of journalists, media houses, and government labour departments, as well as holding hearings in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, the sub-committee submitted its report, which was adopted by the Press Council on 5th August, 2024.
The Report’s findings indicate that despite journalists being declared ‘essential workers’ during the Covid-19 pandemic, retrenchment was adopted as a process to downsize departments by media groups. In many cases, big media houses which could absorb the financial challenges of the pandemic, also used the pandemic as an excuse to rationalize their workforce.
It is estimated about 626 journalists lost their lives to Covid-19 and the number of documented job losses are in the range of 2,300-2,500. Only 37% of the journalist respondents said they had received any sort of severance pay. Besides the severe financial crisis, journalists also went through serious mental strain, often resulting in depression and inability to return to any serious work.
Among the recommendations to the government include mandating a model contract wherein job security during crisis should be guaranteed, and that media workers be given medical insurance cover by the employers. The PCI has also proposed that media personnel be provided safety gear, and the government conduct annual social-economic surveys to understand the changing pulse of employment conditions.
There’s press release in this regard.
