UP govt should provide insurance cover to all journalists: Priyanka Gandhi

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday urged the Uttar Pradesh government to provide insurance cover to journalists, asserting that scribes are performing the important duty of providing information amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Her appeal to the government came after the death of a young journalist due to COVID-19.

"A very sad news. Neelanshu Shukla, a young journalist from Lucknow, is no more. He was battling COVID-19 since many days," Priyanka Gandhi said in a Facebook post in Hindi.

Paying tributes to Shukla, the Congress general secretary said he was a talented journalist.

May God give courage to his family to bear the suffering in this hour of grief, she said.

"I raised this issue earlier as well that journalists are performing the important work of providing information in times of (the coronavirus) crisis," Priyanka Gandhi said.

"The UP government should provide financial help to Neelanshu Shukla's family and insurance cover to all journalists," she said.