Five scribes honoured with Kalyan Barooah journalism awards

Five journalists with a body of exceptional work that promoted and highlighted the under-reported northeast region were awarded the first ever Kalyan Barooah journalism awards for excellence in journalism on Monday in an event organized in the national capital.

The winners were handed the awards which included a trophy, a citation and a cash prize. The winners are Deepak Dewan (for lifetime achievement), Ranju Dodum (best electronic mediaperson), Partha Jyoti Borah (best electronic mediaperson), Binod Tamang (video journalism), and Gitika Talukdar (best photography).

Handing over the awards in five categories, Union Minister for Ports Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, said: “He (Kalyan Barooah) had his own conviction and commitment towards any issue related to the northeast. He always tried to help us with more value addition on different issues.”

“This kind of ceremony is helping us not only by giving awards, but I do firmly believe that this is giving a special memory for Kalyan Barooah”.

Organised by My Home India and North East Media Forum (NEMF), the award ceremony coincided with the birth anniversary of late Barooah. The Assam Tribune scribe Kalyan Barooh and his wife Nilakshi Bhattacharyya died due to Covid19 in 2021.

Recalling his interaction with late Barooah, Sonowal said that he (Barooah) was keen to learn all the time. “I remember the day July 12, 2005, when the final verdict came over the repeal of the IMDT Act. In fact, Kalyan Barooah gave me the first news about SC’s verdict. He has made contributions in taking my life to this stature”.

Hailing the activities of NEMF, Sonowal said that NEMF is now 30 years old. “It has now developed into a different kind of dimension and has lots of actions. The NEMF should unite all parts of the country,” he said, adding that in the last nine years, Northeast has witnessed a remarkable development.

He said that ‘NE’ is now the ‘new engine’ for India's growth.

“The Prime Minister keeps sending all the Union Ministers to the Northeast to review different schemes from different Ministries. More than Rs 5 lakh crores have been given for the development of the northeastern region in the last nine years,” said Sonowal.

“Northeast will play a major role in making India self-reliant by 2047. It's high time to get ourselves ready to achieve the target,” the minister added.