The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) has demanded the government to double the existing minimum salary of journalists. The Minimum Wage Fixing Committee (MWFC) has set the minimum salary of journalists at Rs 19,500.

The FNJ wants the minimum wage doubled to Rs 40,000. The Working Journalists’ Welfare Promotion Committee (WJWPC) of the FNJ on Sunday handed over a memorandum of demand to Bal Krishna Ghimire, the member secretary of the MWFC. A meeting of the WJWPC on Saturday had decided to demand the government to set the minimum salary of journalists working for national media at Rs 40,000 and Rs 30,000 for the scribes working for media houses where the Working Journalists Act has not been fully implemented.

Making it clear that the fixed minimum salary was the remunerations for the entry level journalists, FNJ has also demanded that the level-wise salary rate must be adjusted accordingly. FNJ Secretary Ram Prasad Dahal said the federation will begin a protest if the minimum wage of journalists is not set and implemented by July 17.