Itanagar: Ranju Dodum, a freelance journalist from Arunachal Pradesh, is among the five recipients of the inaugural ‘Kalyan Barooah Award.’
The award, established in memory of late Kalyan Barooah, a Delhi-based senior journalist, aims to honor his contributions to journalism and his unfortunate demise during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dodum writes for The Hindu, The Quint, Mongabay, Frontline, Scroll, among others.
He is also the vice-president of Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ).
While Dodum will receive the award in the print media category, Partha Jyoti Borah, the associate editor of News18 Assam, is being recognized in the electronic media category.
Gitika Talukdar, a photographer from Assam, is also a recipient of the award and Binod Tamang, a freelance videographer contributing to the NE Live TV from Sikkim, is another awardee.
The prestigious lifetime achievement award will be conferred upon veteran journalist Deepak Dewan.
The awards ceremony, organized by the My Home India NGO in collaboration with the North East Media Forum, is scheduled to take place in New Delhi on December 11.
Barooah, a long-time correspondent for The Assam Tribune based in Guwahati and his wife Nilakshi Bhattacharyya, a journalist with The Times of India, tragically succumbed to the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021.
“The Kalyan Barooah Award has been instituted to commemorate Barooah’s notable efforts in bringing Northeast India’s issues to the forefront of national media,” the North East Media Forum (NEMF) said in a release.
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has congratulated Dodum for the feat.
“Feeling great to learn that dear friend @RanjuDodum, Vice President, @apuwjarunachal, has been selected for Kalyan Barooah Award-2023. It’s a testimony to your journalistic skills and understanding. Congratulations for the feat and best wishes for the future,” the chief minister said on X.
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The decision to establish the award was announced by Sunil Deodhar, founder of My Home India, during a memorial meeting in May 2022, which was organized by NEMF in association with the Press Club of India.
Veteran journalists Ashish Gupta of Asomiya Pratidin, CK Nayak of Reuters and The Shillong Times and journalist-turned-filmmaker Utpal Borpujari played a crucial role in selecting the awardees.
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