PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Haldwani Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami laid the foundation stone of the building of the Media Centre in Haldwani on Monday. The modern centre will be built at a cost of Rs 6.75 crore. Speaking on the occasion, the CM said that the media centre is a vibrant platform dedicated to the fourth pillar of democracy—journalism. “ It will serve as a workplace for journalists, a confluence of discussions and a powerful medium for expressing the voices of the people,’’ he said. Dhami stated that state-of-the-art facilities will be developed in this building, keeping modern needs in mind. He said the State government is committed to the welfare and safety of journalists. Dhami said that the corpus of the Journalist Welfare Fund has been increased to Rs five crore. The CM said that cashless health insurance up to Rs five lakh has been implemented for accredited journalists and their dependents. Senior journalists are also receiving a monthly pension of Rs 8,000. The CM called upon journalists to promote positive journalism, disseminate development work to the public and impartially inform the government of any shortcomings. Lok Sabha MP Ajay Bhatt, cabinet minister Pradeep Batra and Ram Singh Kaida and others attended the programme.