Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday asked the media to do constructive criticism for the welfare of the country,  not for damaging it.

"The criticism should be for the welfare of the country and not for damaging it,"  she said while addressing a function at her office here in the city.

In the function, the premier distributed cheques of financial assistance to the families of dead, sick, insolvent and injured journalists.

This year some Tk 3.41 crore was given to 438 journalists as financial assistance from Bangladesh Journalists Welfare Trust (BJWT) Fund.

Hasina said the Awami League government has ensured freedom of media in the last 14 years. "None had ever enjoyed so much freedom in the past," she said.

The PM asked the media to do criticism as much as required to correct the government but not to hamper the ongoing progress of the country.

"We don't want that the progress of Bangladesh to be hampered," she said.

She said the media will have to have a sense of responsibility and dutifulness towards the country and the nation while they enjoy freedom.

The BJWT fund was formed in 2014 with seed money of Tk 25 crore provided by the prime minister on two occasions.

So far some Tk 40 crore was distributed among 13,510 journalists from the fund.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud presided over the function, while Information Secretary Humayun Kabir Khandaker spoke on the occasion.