THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Tired of waiting endlessly for his journalist pension for many years, veteran journalist S Jayachandran Nair recently penned a crisp, open letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. In his letter, Jayachandran Nair, former editor of Samakalika Malayalam Vaarika, said it was in 1957 — at a time when E M S Namboodiripad and his party were trying to establish a Communist government through the ballot — that he began his journalistic career. But when he ended it in 2012, he had nothing in hand even after over 50 years as a journalist.
“That’s when I thought the journalist welfare pension would indeed come as a timely support. It’s been eight years now and I am still waiting for it. In between, I came to know that then chief minister Oommen Chandy dumped my application in the dustbin.
I still didn’t lose hope, and sincerely hoped that the pension would be sanctioned when Pinarayi becomes the chief minister. Nothing happened. I am now done. I no longer intend to wait any longer for your gratis. Lal Salaam!” was how Jayachandran Nair chose to express his anguish.