It’s been more than a week since Pankaj Kulshreshtha, a senior journalist working for a Hindi newspaper in Agra, lost his battle with COVID-19, but his family and colleagues are still waiting for the U.P. government to declare him a “corona warrior” and award compensation to his family.
In April, the U.P. government had declared a compensation of ₹50 lakh in case a “corona warrior” died while working during the pandemic. Corona warriors are health workers, staff of local bodies and police. Kulshreshtha, 50, was Deputy News Editor of Dainik Jagran’s Agra edition at the time of his death.
Recalling the chain of events, Gaurav, his cousin, said, “It rained in Agra on April 24 and bhaisahib got wet while returning from office. The following morning, he developed a fever and I took him to SN Medical College OPD. The doctor gave him medicine and said if the fever didn’t subside, he should get himself tested for COVID-19.”
The fever kept coming back and Kulshreshtha started feeling weak. “On April 28, he got himself tested for COVID-19. But the report came out only on May 2 and he was admitted to SN Medical College on May 3. If the administration had responded in time, my brother might have been saved,” he alleged.
Mr. Gaurav’s version is at variance with what Dainik Jagran reported on May 8. It said Kulshreshtra’s report came out on May 4 and the same day he was admitted to the hospital.
Mr. Gaurav has demanded ₹50 lakh and a government job for his cousin’s wife.
One of Kulshreshtha’s colleagues, who chose anonymity, claimed that even after a rival newspaper implemented a policy of work from home, Dainik Jagran kept calling its staff to the office.
Hemant Tiwari, president of State Accredited Journalist Association, said he had been demanding that journalists be declared “corona warriors” even before Kulshreshtha’s demise. “According to Central and State government notifications, print and electronic media have been part of essential services. But both the government and management are yet to respond.”
Ashutosh Shukla, State Editor of Dainik Jagran, maintained that there was no laxity on the part of the management or administration. “We are in touch with the government on the issue of compensation but before that the management will take care of the family. We will make an announcement within a few days.”
‘Delays’ in response
On the issue of “delays” in response, Mr. Shukla said as soon as they got the information of infection in office, they allowed the desk to work from home and only skeletal staff was coming to the office. “I was personally involved in arranging the ambulance to shift him to Lucknow, but the doctors advised against it as he was already on ventilator support,” he added.
