Goa State Working Journalists Welfare Scheme

What is the Goa State Working Journalists Welfare Scheme?

The Goa State Working Journalists Welfare Scheme is run by the Department of Information and Publicity, Government of Goa, and was launched on 1 February 2002. It exists to improve the welfare of working journalists who have worked in Goa, after their retirement, and of their families.

Two features define it. First, it is a contributory scheme: a journalist registers as a member, contributes month by month, and draws welfare only after completing the contribution period. Second, it is administered by a Governing Body, with a convener who receives applications and an authorised Sub Committee that may consider them, while the Director of Information and Publicity makes the actual disbursement.

The scheme has three benefit heads:

• Monthly welfare fund: Rs 7,500 per month for an eligible retired working journalist.
• Family welfare, 50 per cent of the journalist's pension to the spouse, unmarried children below 21 years and dependent parents of a deceased member.
• Return of contribution, the member's own contribution returned to a member who loses membership, within one year of losing it.

Who is eligible for the Goa working journalists welfare fund?

The scheme is anchored to the Working Journalists and Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955. Any journalist covered by that Act is within the scheme's scope.

You can claim welfare if:

• You retired after fifteen years of service in Goa, continuous or with intervals, at not below 50 years of age, and
• You have contributed for a period of 180 months under the scheme, and the claim is made only after attaining the age of 58, or after you retire from service.
• Alternatively, you attain 58 years of age, or complete 50 years after becoming a member of the scheme, whichever is earlier, that too entitles a member to welfare.
• You are a member of the welfare scheme and have retired after continuous service of 15 years, or with intervals.

A relaxation exists for journalists who registered under the scheme within six months of its implementation and whose contribution falls short of 180 months. Those members are governed by the Registration clause, and a relaxation may be granted where the working journalist is afflicted with and undergoing treatment for a serious ailment. Such a relaxation is granted only after the Governing Body ratifies the request.

You are not eligible if:

• You are seeking to join the scheme a second time after surrendering membership, after cancellation of membership, or after having once availed benefits. This bar is absolute.
• You have lost membership automatically by remaining without working as a journalist for one continuous year.
• You have defaulted on contributions for six continuous months. Membership is lost automatically in that case, although the Governing Body can restore it under specific unforeseen circumstances — but not more than three times.
• You are not covered by the Working Journalists Act, or have not met the fifteen-year service and 50-year age conditions.

What documents are required?

The Annexure-III statement issued by the newspaper concerned must show the name of the establishment, the work of the applicant, the date of joining service and the date of birth as per official records. The employment certificate may come either from the newspaper establishment the applicant is working with, or from the President or Secretary of the Goa Union of Working Journalists of the state, which matters for freelancers and for journalists whose former employer has since closed.

The passbook carrying the member's photograph and contribution details is the single most important document at the welfare stage. It is the evidence on which welfare is granted, and the Director of Information and Publicity verifies it before releasing payment.

How to apply for the Goa State Working Journalists Welfare Scheme

To register as a member:

1. Print the prescribed registration form, Annexure-I, and fill in all mandatory fields, pasting the passport-size photograph signed across where required.
2. Obtain the Annexure-III statement from your newspaper establishment, showing the establishment name, your work, your date of joining service and your date of birth as per official records, and attach an attested copy of your date of birth proof.
3. Submit the completed registration form with the documents to the convener of the governing body, and ensure your entry is made in the register maintained by the convener or the authorised officer.

To claim welfare once eligible:

1. Print the prescribed welfare application form, Annexure-II, and fill in all mandatory fields.
2. Attach the employment certificate from your newspaper establishment or from the President or Secretary of the Goa Union of Working Journalists, together with your passbook showing your photograph and contribution record.
3. Submit the duly filled and signed form with the documents to the convener of the governing body.

What happens after you apply

The scheme sets out a clear post-application sequence:

• The Governing Body or the authorised Sub Committee considers the application within one month. If the applicant is eligible, an order is issued to the convener.
• The convener may issue temporary welfare upon being satisfied, subject to ratification by the Governing Body. Final welfare is then sanctioned.
• The Director of Information and Publicity disburses the welfare by cheque after the sixth of each month, following verification of the passbook, generally from the month after retirement.

A member should therefore expect the first payment in the month following retirement rather than in the month of retirement itself, and should expect it after the sixth of the month rather than on the first.

Family welfare after a member's death

Where a member dies, the family submits an application and the claim is processed based on the nomination made by the deceased member. The family: spouse, unmarried children below 21 years, and dependent parents; receives 50 per cent of the journalist's pension, disbursed monthly by cheque by the Director of Information and Publicity in the same way as the regular welfare fund.

The practical lesson is that the nomination form matters. A member who never filed a nomination, or whose nomination is out of date after a marriage or a death in the family, leaves the survivors with a harder claim.

Common reasons a claim fails

• Contribution short of 180 months, without qualifying for the serious-ailment relaxation ratified by the Governing Body.
• Membership lapsed through six months of default, or through a full year without working as a journalist.
• A second attempt to join after having surrendered membership or availed benefits, which the scheme bars outright.
• Passbook not produced, so the contribution record cannot be verified.
• No employment certificate, where neither the establishment nor the Goa Union of Working Journalists has certified the applicant's work.
• No nomination on record at the time of a family welfare claim.

Help and contact

• Department of Information and Publicity, Government of Goa
• Phone: 0832-2223157, 0832-2422675, 0832-2226047
• Email: dipgoa@gmail.com
• Website: dip.goa.gov.in

Applications are received by the convener of the governing body on the prescribed annexures. There is no fee for registering or for claiming welfare, and no agent is authorised to charge a journalist for filing either form.

How to check your application status

The Goa State Working Journalists Welfare Scheme runs entirely offline, on paper annexures submitted to the convener of the governing body. There is no online portal, login, or tracking number to check a registration or welfare claim, so follow-up has to happen the same way the application was filed: directly with the department.

For a registration application (Annexure-I):

1. Confirm with the convener of the governing body that your entry has actually been made in the register. A registration is only effective once it is recorded there, not merely once the form is handed in.
2. Keep the receiving acknowledgement, or the date and name of the official who accepted your form, since there is no system-generated reference number to quote later.

For a welfare claim (Annexure-II):

1. The Governing Body or its authorised Sub Committee is expected to consider a welfare application within one month of submission. If that period has passed without any communication, contact the convener directly to ask whether the application has been placed before the Governing Body or Sub Committee, and whether an order has been issued.
2. If an order has been issued, ask whether the passbook has been verified by the Director of Information and Publicity, since disbursement by cheque follows only after that verification, generally after the sixth of the month following retirement.
3. If a cheque was expected but has not arrived by the following month, that usually points to a passbook or verification hold-up rather than a rejection, and is worth raising with the department before assuming the claim has failed.

Whom to contact for a status update:

• Department of Information and Publicity, Government of Goa
• Phone: 0832-2223157, 0832-2422675, 0832-2226047
• Email: dipgoa@gmail.com
• Website: dip.goa.gov.in

Since the scheme has no digital tracking, calling the department or writing to this email with your name, the newspaper you worked for, and the date you submitted your form is the only reliable way to get an update, and it is worth doing this in writing (even a simple email) so there is a record of your follow-up alongside the original application.