Senior journalists aged over 65 will receive a monthly allowance of BDT 10,000, after a policy on the matter was finalized in a meeting at the Secretariat on Thursday.
The meeting was chaired by Md. Kausar Ahmmad, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
A ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “The policy has now been finalized. Once approved by the adviser, the policy will be officially published and later notified in the government gazette.”
The official also confirmed that the monthly allowance of BDT 10,000 for underprivileged senior journalists will remain unchanged.
Sources said the draft of this policy was prepared by the Journalists’ Welfare Trust.
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The trust had proposed an allowance of BDT 15,000, but the ministry finalized it at BDT 10,000.
Initially, the allowance will cover senior journalists in divisional and district towns.
The ministry plans to gradually expand both the coverage and the amount of the allowance.
Under the policy, journalists over 65 years old with at least 25 years of experience will be eligible to apply for the allowance.