<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday said she will always stand beside journalists as she always did in the past.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>"Tell me, what can I do for you (journalists)? I am always with you," she said</div><div><br></div><div>The Prime Minister said this while addressing a press conference on her tri-nation visit. Her comment was involved concerns regarding journalists’ welfare and announcement of dearness allowance against the backdrop of soaring inflation.</div><div><br></div><div>The press conference was held at her official residence—Ganabhaban.</div><div><br></div><div>Hasina returned home from London on May 9 after her 15-day official visit to Japan, the US and the UK.</div><div><br></div><div>The Prime Minister said she has special feeling for the journalists as her father, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, worked as a journalist for some time.</div><div><br></div><div>She said her government has given a number of television channels and newspapers in private sectors aimed at generating employment for the journalists and ensuring their betterment.</div><div><br></div><div>The Prime Minister said her government in 2015 announced dearness allowance for the government employees every year in line with the increased inflation.</div><div><br></div><div>She said they can do it as they are government employees.</div><div><br></div><div>But, she said, newspapers and TV channels are running under private ownership.</div><div><br></div><div>The owners of the media houses will take necessary measures to this end, she said.</div><div><br></div><div>The Prime Minister said she didn't know what the government can do in this regard.</div><div><br></div><div>She, however, wanted to know from the journalist leaders what her government can do, assuring them of standing beside them.</div><div><br></div><div>The Prime Minister said the owners of the media are rich and they have separate businesses, adding that they can take required measures to hike the salary of journalists.</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>