Sarojini Naidu Annual Prize for Best Reporting on Women and Panchayati Raj

The Hunger Project encourages the media to report the success stories of women leaders who have emerged following the 73rd Amendment to the Indian Constitution which devolved power to Panchayati Raj (village self-governing) institutions and mandated 33% reservation for women at the Panchayat (village council), Block and District levels. As a result, more than one million women have come into positions of power.

The Award: A cash prize of Rs 200,000

The Sarojini Naidu Prize honours three journalists annually, for outstanding reporting on Women and Panchayati Raj. The Prize is given in support and recognition of the vital contribution the media can make to generate awareness, sensitising and strengthening popular public opinion towards women’s leadership. The Prize is given out in the following three categories: Hindi, English and Other Indian Languages

Eligibility Criteria

Open to all print journalists. Regional language publications are encouraged to apply. All entries have to be accompanied with articles that have been published in a newspaper or magazine. They should also include the name, address, email and phone number of the applicant. The theme of the article should focus on 'Women and PanchayatiRaj'. There is no word limit. The articles should have been published between 15 July 2005 –15 July 2006. Articles published prior to this date will not be considered. There is no limit to the number of articles that can be sent as entries as long as they meet the above criteria.

Deadline

The articles should reach the office of The Hunger Project at Delhi or any of our state offices latest by 15 July 2006. Articles received after this date will not be considered.

The Selection Process

After a preliminary screening to ensure eligibility, articles will be translated if needed, and then sent to the Jury.

Jury

Chair

Dr George Mathew

Director, Institute of Social Sciences

Members

Ms Aparna Sen

Director and Film Maker

Ms Mrinal Pande

Group Editor Hindi, Hindustan Times

Mr N. Ram

Editor in Chief, The Hindu

Mr Raghunandan

Joint Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India

Ms Sushma Iyengar

Development Activist, Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan, Gujarat

For more details visit http://www.thp.org/snp/