International Press Institute Award

The International Press Institute’s (IPI) India Award for Excellence in Journalism, 2016 has been awarded jointly to Varun Bhatt of Rajasthan Patrika and The Week for outstanding journalistic work done during 2015.

The India Chapter of the IPI announced that Varun Bhatt’s exclusive investigative report in Rajasthan Patrika had exposed the apathy and negligence of the authorities in fulfilling promises to build a memorial for 1,500 tribals, who were killed during the freedom struggle in Mangadh. He traced the original papers with the Central government, wrote a series of articles on how the memorial has been stalled and once the work resumed, kept a track of it.

‘The Week’ was selected for an exclusive interview and an accompanying article by Rabi Banerjee through which the magazine explained to its readers the hitherto unknown life and struggles of human rights activist Irom Sharmila. The interview also gave out for the first time the fact that she wanted to give up her prolonged fast and take to political work.

The award comprises a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh, a trophy and a citation, to each winner.