Bhopal: Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Friday announced the constitution of a high level committee to probe the allegations of harassment of journalists during the previous Congress government in the state. Addressing a news conference here, Mr Sai said that a committee headed by state home secretary would be constituted to probe the allegations of ‘intimidation, harassment and victimisation’ of the media persons during the previous Congress government in the state. “Several complaints of harassment against journalists and people of media during the previous Congress government in the state had come to light. Our media department had also given information about alleged false cases registered against journalists to harass them during the period. In this regard, we announce the formation of a committee under the chairmanship of the home secretary to probe all the complaints of harassment of journalists during the period. Journalists will also be a part of the committee among other members”, he said. Mr Sai assured the media that justice would be given to all the journalists, allegedly victimised while discharging their duties during the previous Congress government in the state. The chief minister further said that a five-member committee has been constituted to address the grievances of the state government employees. The committee, headed by principal secretary, state panchayat and rural development department, Niharika Barik, will interact with the representatives of various employees unions and give suggestions to the government to address the grievances of the employees. He also announced an increase in the dearness allowance (DA) of the officers and employees of the state government by four percent under the seventh pay scale, and this benefit would also be extended to the pensioners of the state government. The increased DA will be effective from March one this year.
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