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Nominations invited for Kuldip Nayyar Journalism Award 2018

The second Kuldeep Nayyar Journalism Award for outstanding contribution to journalism will be presented in October this year. Interested journalists have until 31 August to file nominations. B. Anand reports

Nominations have been invited for the Kuldip Nayyar Journalism Award, instituted and awarded by the Gandhi Peace Foundation (GPF). The award steering committee has invited nominations for 2018, the second year of the award. The award is given to a journalist of Indian languages working in print or electronic media. The first award went to well-known journalist Ravish Kumar, executive editor of NDTV. The award includes Rs 1 lakh in cash, a certificate of commendation and a memento.

Ravish Kumar receives the Kuldip Nayyar Journalism Award 2017

Kumar Prashant, chairperson, GPF, said that the award has been instituted to resist attempts by social, religious, political and economic forces to erode the freedom of expression and to help journalists wage a united battle to preserve it. The award, launched in 2017, is given to any male or female journalist working in any Indian media and language. Journalists need to send in their original work, along with its Hindi translation, their personal and professional details and a description of their journalistic achievements. The last date for nominations is 31 August 2018.

The steering committee will consider the nominations in keeping with the decided criteria. The name of the awardee will be announced in September and the award ceremony will be held in October. Ashok Kumar, secretary, GPF, said that the nominations should be sent to the following address: Gandhi Shanti Prathisthan, 221-223, Deendayal Upadhyaya Marg, New Delhi-110002. The envelopes should be superscribed “Patrakarita Samman 2018”.

Steering committee discusses basis of selection

The steering committee for the award met at the GPF office on 28 April to decide the process for selection of the awardee. Besides Kuldip Nayyar, the committee includes Kumar Prashant, political scientist Ashish Nandy, former Jansatta editor Om Thanvi, senior journalist Neerja Chaudhary, Sanjay Parikh, Rizwan Kaisar, Priyadarshan, Ashok Kumar, Jaishankar Gupta, Vijay Pratap and Forward Press managing editor Pramod Ranjan. Kumar Prashant told the committee members that the award would go to a journalist who is doing exemplary work for protecting and preserving the freedom of expression, democratic values and civic rights. He also said that gathering information about journalism in various Indian languages was a big challenge.

What should be the basis for the selection of the awardee? This was the key point on the meeting’s agenda. How will we know about journalistic writings on national or local issues? Sanjay Parikh wanted to know how the jury would have access to writings at the grass roots. Jaishankar Gupta suggested that an invitation for nominations should be advertised nationally. He said that the committee should not get overawed by big, popular names and should choose awardees from print and electronic media alternately. Pramod Ranjan suggested that one language could be chosen for the award every year. Sanjay Parikh and Kumar Prashant said that ambit of the award should not be constricted and that it should be as wide as possible. After a long discussion, it was decided that the present steering committee would also be the jury for the award. The constitution of the steering committee for the next year would be taken up after this year’s awardee has been selected. Ashok Kumar said that a grand, dignified function would be held to present the award.

 

Forward Press also publishes books on Bahujan issues. Forward Press Books sheds light on the widespread problems as well as the finer aspects of Bahujan (Dalit, OBC, Adivasi, Nomadic, Pasmanda) society, culture, literature and politics. Contact us for a list of FP Books’ titles and to order. Mobile: +917827427311, Email: info@forwardmagazine.in)

The titles from Forward Press Books are also available on Kindle and these e-books cost less than their print versions. Browse and buy:

The Case for Bahujan Literature

Mahishasur: A people’s hero

Dalit Panthers: An Authoritative History

Mahishasur: Mithak wa Paramparayen

The Common Man Speaks Out

Jati ke Prashn Par Kabir

About The Author

B. Anand

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