( This study was tabled in the Parliament also :-)
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050812/nation.htm#2
Ex-AG concerned over criminalisation of politics
Four journalists get Prem Bhatia awards, scholarships
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 11
Declining moral standards in public life, criminalisation of politics, exploitation of public properties for personal gains, scant respect for the rule of law and dividing people on caste lines by selfish politicians posed a grave threat to democracy, said former Attorney-General Ashok Desai while delivering the 10th Prem Bhatia Memorial Lecture here today.
“Could the framers of our Constitution have anticipated the nature of the transformation? Could they have dreamt that ministers charged with serious offences against public order or corruption would continue to hold positions involving public trust?” Mr Desai asked.
Emphasising that people must rise up to fight these dangerous tendencies before it was too late, the eminent jurist said those who take a plunge into public life follow “seven principles of public morality — selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and good leadership”.
Four journalists — Jupinderjit Singh of The Tribune, Verghese K. George and Jaideep Mazoomdar of The Indian Express and Jaideep Hardikar of Hitvada — were given Prem Bhatia awards and scholarships for excellence in journalism for 2004-05 at a function held at India International Centre. It was presided over by noted journalist B.G. Verghese.
Describing Prem Bhatia as an eminent political journalist and diplomat with strong views on domestic and international affairs, for which he was widely respected, Mr Desai said he was very concerned about the “erosion of values in politics”, which reflected in his later writings on “Byzantine world of Indian politics”.
“Why the aspiration of the Constitution had yielded a very different result from what was contemplated by its framers, because the persons we tried to hold important positions like the Prime Minister, Governors, ministers, speakers, legislators and public servants had not always lived up to the expectations,” he said.
It was a matter of concern that as per a survey by a Bangalore-based public affairs centre “almost 25 per cent of Parliamentarians have been charged with crimes. And this is our Parliament! The statistics in certain state Assemblies are too alarming to even contemplate,” he said.
The instances of patronage of criminals was not confined to one single party as there seemed to be an “unspoken consensus” on it among all political parties, Mr Desai said, pointing out that no party when in power had dared to touch the N.N. Vohra committee report during the past 12 years, which was the first official document on the government’s “admission” of criminalisation of politics and take some corrective measures.
“Our Constitution cannot envisage that ministers facing charges involving destruction of places of worship or of corruption or even murder, can continue to hold office while facing trial,” he said, adding if people hoped for better future, they should not “share the general disillusionment about governance”.
http://www.prembhatiatrust.com/awards.htm
Awards & Scolarships
(Please click on the links to view the complete report)
OUTSTANDING POLITICAL REPORTING OF THE YEAR
(A sum of Rs. 1 lakh is awarded)
Selection is done by an independent jury
1997
Mr. Haresh Khare
Deputy Editor and Deputy Chief of the New Delhi bureau of The Hindu
1998
Mr. Raj Chengappa
Deputy Editor of India Today
1999
Ms. Seema Mustapha
Deputy Editor of Asian Age
2000
Mr. Amit Baruah
Political Correspondent of Hindu,
Posted in Islamabad
2001
Mr. Sankarshan Thakur
Assistant Editor - Indian Express
(For his outstanding political writing throughout the year
and most recently on upheaval in Manipur.)
2002
Mr. Kingshuk Nag
(Resident Editor), The Times of India
Ahmedabad
(For The Courageous reporting of Gujarat Riots.)
Mr. Bharat Desai
Chief Reporter, The Times of India
Ahmedabad
2003
Mr. Praveen Swami
Special correspondent Front Line
2004
Mr, Palagummi Sainath
of the Hindu For his Superb reporting of hunger, deprivation and death among farmers in Andhra Pradesh.
2005
Mr. Varghese K. George
for his investigative series on how flood relief in Bihar was siphoned off by politicians and bureaucrats.
2006
Ms. Navika Kumar
of Television News Channel Times Now for her hard hitting investigative reports on Election Commissioner having received funds from MPLADS for Trusts run by him and his family members.
2007
Ms. Pallavi Aiyar
The Hindu Correspondent in China.
In her sensitive and astute reports she has covered a wide field ranging from the political and strategic, to Indo-Chinese relations and a society in transition.
2008
Ms. Nirupama Subramanian
The Hindu Correspondent In Pakistan
Ms. Subramanian has been recognized for her sensitive and astute coverage of the major campaign for the restoration of the independent superior judges, the parliamentary election, and the induction of the new democratic government in Pakistan. She has written several articles and editorials in the newspaper on Pakistani Developments.
PREM BHATIA SCHOLARSHIP
(A sum of Rs. 60,000 is awarded)
Selection is done by an independent jury
The number of scholarships have been increased to three from the year 2000 onwards
1997
Mrs. Asha Khosa
Special correspondent of The Indian Express, Srinagar.
Subject: Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, since 1989. (Incomplete)
1998
Miss. Harvinder Khetal
The Tribune
Subject: Debt trap of Punjab Farmers
1999
Mr. Rajinder Bandhu
Freelance journalist from Madhya Pradesh
Subject: Rural reporting and its future.
2000
Dr. Anjana Trivedi
Freelance Journalist from Indore
Subject:- Journalism Centered on Womens Issues
Mr. Nagesha
Sub-editor, Reporter,Deccan Herald
Subject:- Role of mass media in community based health promotion with special reference to six districts of Karnataka
Mr. K. G. Suresh
Deputy Chief Reporter, Press Trust of India
Subject:- Crime & Media Responses
2001
Miss. Indiradhar Choudhari
Hindustan Times
Subject- Research on educational and alternative opportunities for children and minors of women in prostitution and total work will be on all India basis.
Miss. Sangita Sharma
Pioneer
Subject- The socio political problems faced by Assam today and the role of media in this regard.
Mrs. Devyani Bhardwaj
Subject- Inequality of development and consequent displacement of people. (2) Women’s representation in Panchayati Raj in Rajasthan.
2002
Mr. Luv Puri
Correspondent of The Hindu
Karan Nagar, Jammu - 180 005
Subject- Insurgency in Jammu Region
Mr. M P Basheer
The Quest Features & Footage
Kochi, Kerala
Subject- Patriarchal leaning in editorial content of women publications in Kerala, with a special look into the family magazines run by religious groups.
2003
Ms. Amulya Gopalakrishnan
Reporter Frontline
Subject- The State of the Arts in the Media Market Place.
Mr. Riyaz Ahmed Wani
Sub-Editor cum-Editorialist for the regional daily Greater Kashmir
Subject- Better economic alternative for rural Kashmir.
2004
Richard Mahapatra
of Down to Earth
Subject - On Environmental Meaning of Conflicts in India.
Mr. Zafar Iqbal Choudhary
Freelancer
Subject - Women’s space in Kashmir Politics
2005
Mr. Jaideep Hardikar
Hitavada
Subject - Agrarian Crisis in Vidarbha
Mr. Jupinderjit Singh
The Tribune
Subject - Changing Demography of Punjab Effets of Emigration/Immigration.
2006
Mr. Radheshyam Jadhav
Subject - Role of mass media in evolving sustainable rural development paradigm with reference to award winning villages in Sant Gadgebaba Village Sanitation Campaign in Maharashtra
Ms. R. Uma Maheshwari
Subject - “Taming Rivers, Drawning Hopes : The Polavarm Project – Irrigation or the deluge of Contracts”.
2007
Mr. Lokendra Singh Kot
Subject - Leadership of women in Panchyats and media in Madhya Pradesh (Hindi)
Mr. Reji Joseph
Subject - Endosulphan Pesticide Victims of Kasargod, Kerala (English)
OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING OF THE YEAR
(A sum of Rs. 30,000/- is awarded)
Selection is done by an independent jury
2004
Mr. Ashok B. Sharma
Of Financial Express
For his indepth analysis of new and emerging environmental issues related to biodiversity, biosafety, agriculture and globalisation, thus widening the scope and relevance of environmental journalism.
2005
Mr. Jay Mazoomdar
Senior Assisstant Editor
The Indian Express, New Delhi
For his reporting on the Vanishing Tiger Population of the Country.
2006
Mr. Atul Chandrakant Deulgaonkar
Freelance Journalist from Latur, Maharashtra
The range of subjects that he has considered has been very wide. His books in Marathi include a study of the cost effective and environmentally friendly architecture of Laurie Baker, which won two awards in 1997. He has also written on the Latur earthquake and the lessons to be learnt from it. His articles dwell on food security, agricultural issues, alternative developmental models, the suicides of farmers and the environmental aspects of disasters like the Bhopal gas tragedy.
2007
Mr. Max Martin
Freelance Journalist, currently editing ‘indiadisaster.org’
2008
Ms. Keya Acharya
Ms. Keya Acharya is an independent freelance journalist based in Bangalore. Keya has been writing specifically on environment and development issued in Indian and international publications for the last 18 years. Her interest in the environment led her to pursue a freelance career in order to be able to pay attention to the subject in depth. She has travelled widely in India and abroad on commissioned assignments for several publications and has been extensively published in a wide and in-depth range of issued pertaining to environment and development.
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