Journalists have condoled the premature death of their dear colleague and Aaj Tak cameraperson Mukesh Kumar in an unfortunate road mishap on 6 March evening.

And the Presidium of Media Unity for Freedom of Press(MUFP) ) also deeply condoled the untimely sad demise of Mukesh.

Mukesh (35 ) is survived by his wife and a six month old son.

The accident took place near Pipili while Mukesh was returning from Puri along with  Parvat Kumar, Corresspondent of the channel.

The car in which both were travelling badly hit a roadside tree, resulting in serious injuries of Mukesh.

Both Pravat and Mukesh were brought to Apollo Hospital, here, where Mukesh was declared dead.

His body will be released from the hospital on Sunday after inquest by the police.

The MUFP expressed heart-felt sympathy to the family members of Mukesh Kumar and have urged upon his employers to stand solidly behind his family since he was the only earning member of the family who died while on duty.

He is survived by his young wife and a baby.

Mukesh was a wonderful person and a dedicated professional.

People who have had the privilege of interacting or working with him would always remember him for his innate goodness.

He would stand up for just any one in distress, be it a colleague or a stranger. 

His untimely demise has left everyone shell-shocked.

We offer our deepest condolence to his widow and other members of his family and pray to God to give them the strength to bear with the tragic loss.

We also wish the Aaj Tak Correspondent Prabhat Kumar who was also seriously injured in the same road mishap to recover and get back into action at the earliest.

A large number of media persons had rushed to the hospital to pay their last respect to Mukesh ...although no one could muster enough courage to see the good old friend in a still and mutilated condition.

At the hospital as media friends shared their memories and impressions of Mukesh with each other.

Many questions are raised now among the journalist community.

What will happen now to Mukesh's family, his wife ?

Is there anybody to take care of the future of his widow and little baby?

What will happen to my family if I meet with an untimely death?

Do we have anybody or anything to fall back on in case of a tragedy of this kind?

Many did not have an answer.

But it's time we look for an answer.

It's time we fight for the creation of a Media Fund - a corpus that will be handled jointly by the State Government.

Department of Information & Public Relations and representatives from the media fraternity are to create a source of help that will not look for accreditation or official documents to prove the affected person's bonafide, feel journalists.

It would offer help once the representatives from the media on its Board give their nod.

It has been decided to request the Chief Minister to make a formal announcement in this regard during the coming Assembly session.