Reportage on women in Panchayati Raj awarded

03 October 2007

New Delhi, Oct 3: The 7th Sarojini Naidu Prize for the best reporting on women in Panchayati Raj in the print medium was given away in New Delhi yesterday. The award, given under three categories � English, Hindi and regional Indian languages, is an initiative of The Hunger Project. This year the prize was won by Teresa Rehman from Tehelka, New Delhi, Bhanwar Megwanshi from Vividha Features, Jaipur and V R Jyothish Kumar from Vanitha, Kerala, for English, Hindi and other Indian languages respectively.

Ms Renuka Chowdhury, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Women and Child Development, Ms Asma Jahangir, Human rights activist from Pakistan and Ms Shabana Azmi gave away the awards. The panel of jurors for this year were Dr. George Mathew, Director, Institute of Social Science; Ms. Meenakshi Dutta Ghosh, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj; Ms. Shabana Azmi, Actress and Social Activist; Mr Sashi Kumar, Director, Asian College of Journalism; Mr Alok Mehta, Editor, Outlook Saptahik and Ms Niraja Gopal Jayal, Chairperson, Centre for Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University.

The award this year focused on the role of elected women representatives in bringing education to every child. The selection was done on the basis of consistency of writing, level of research and analysis of the issues dealing with education, governance, accountability and inclusive leadership practices.

The award has been initiated to inspire the media to showcase the contribution of elected women leaders and pay more attention to the efforts made at the grassroots level towards developing the nation. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 2 lakhs and a citation.

This year the award function also saw the release of a book, written by Ms. S. Jothimani, an elected representative from Tamil Nadu. The book titled �No Shortcut to Leadership� is an account of her struggle to provide drinking water to Dalits in her village. A photographic exhibition titled �When Women Govern� was also organized at the venue.

User comments

"Great initiative!"

Author: santakar chelapila

Time: 03.10.2007 20:09

Comment: Friends! it's a great initiative indeed . There is a need to bring the media close to the human lives and their roles and responsibilities through such iniitiatives . Congratulations to the innovation.
With regards
Ch.Santakar
Journalist
Koraput
orissa