The 8th Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity 2016 (Northern and Eastern Region) were announced at the Chinmaya Mission in Delhi today. Anima Pookkunnyil, Assistant Editor with BusinessLine , and Shreya Ila Anasuya, a Delhi-based freelance journalist, were awarded this year for their critical gender-sensitive reportage.

Organised by Population First, the Laadli Media Awards are given to recognise efforts by those in the media and advertising industry who work to end gender prejudice. The awards have been given since 2007, and had over 5,000 participants from the media and 3,000 participants from advertising. The guests of honour at this year’s event were Diego Palacios, country representative of UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund), Stuti Narain Kacker, NCPCR (National Commission for Protection of Child Rights) and Padmashri awardee Syeda Hameed, former member of the Planning Commission.

Pookkunnyil’s story in the BLink was about Kamlesh Kairi’s petition to the Supreme Court against the unjust laws barring women without a minimum educational qualification from fighting Panchayat elections. Kairi, a Dalit woman attached to the Akhil Bharatiya Janwadi Mahila Samiti, had appealed to the apex court against the State of Haryana. The report voiced Kairi’s discontent with the rule that alienated a lot of disadvantaged women, and dismissed their engagement with the grassroots, a contribution more important than a lack of education. Pookkunnyil commented on her award, “Kamlesh Kaimri’s story is the story of a large number of women and men in Haryana who have spent their lives working in the community and fighting odds. It’s the story of all those whose work has been negated because they did not have access to formal education. And I’m humbled that Laadli has chosen to hear these stories, of people who find themselves outside the radar.”

Ila Anasuya was awarded for her report on Suzette Jordan. The piece titled Suzette Jordan’s victory , outlined the many ways in which we had failed this fierce Kolkata resident who’s unfortunate gang-rape shot to infamy. The piece details how this was the beginning of many injustices done to her, including the chief minister’s remark calling her a liar, and accusing her of defamation. In her story, Ila Anasuya outlined the irony of the fact that the Salman Khan judgment clearing him of all charges in the hit-and-run case, and the judgment convicting the accused in the Jordan case came out on the same day.

The awards brought forward some important narratives to the fore. Chitrangada Choudhary was awarded the best prize in investigative journalism for her reportage on violence by security forces in Bastar in the Caravan magazine. Tazeen Qureshy of Ndtv.com won the best electronic report award for her story on the conservation efforts by tribal women in an Odisha village. The awards ceremony was succeeded by a performance by Pandita Anuradha Pal on the tabla and Gouri Banerjee on the sarangi.

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