HYDERABAD: Two staffers of The New Indian Express, Telangana, bagged jury honours of the 10th Laadli Media and Advertising Awards for Gender Sensitivity (regional) 2018-19.
Senior reporter Pinto Deepak and reporter Donita Jose were awarded the jury appreciation citation for showing potential in furthering the gender discourse and discussion in the country.
Pinto Deepak won the award for his works on issues of women in Telangana. He has been working with The New Indian Express since June, 2018. His article titled, “Why no women in top police posts in Telangana?”, exposes how women police personnel in the State are deprived of proper postings and confined only to posts termed ‘loopline postings’.
At the time of publishing of the piece, there were only two women posted as Station House Officers in the 700 police stations in Telangana.
Other stories of his that received jury appreciation included, “Who cares for the abandoned child?”, which highlights the police’s laxity in investigating and solving child abandonment cases in Telangana.
Another one titled, “Telangana’s brick kilns unsafe for women migrant labourers”, explores the plight of women migrants working in brick kilns.
Donita Jose, a reporter with the newspaper since 2018 August also won the jury appreciation citation for her stories on different aspects of gender bias.
Her three selected entries were: “Telangana prisons too prejudiced against transpersons”, “TSRTC strike brings fear back to Telangana’s Hajipur” and “POCSO victims back in hostile Nampally court”.
All of her stories reflect how the lack of gender sensitivity in day-to-day functioning of the government puts vulnerable groups at risk. After her article highlighting the hostility of POCSO courts was published, the concerned officials sanctioned funds to improve the situation.
Making a difference
As many as 93 winners were chosen out of 1,100 entries. The winners were selected from four regions of the country, namely North, East, West, and South.