New Delhi : Six journalists Kavita Kishore of The Hindu, Malvika Vyahare of The New York Times, Mukesh Kejriwal of Dainik Jagran, Neha Dixit, a freelancer, Pankaj Jaiswal of Hindustan Times, and Saadia Azim, a freelancer, have bagged the One World-POSHAN Media Fellowship on Undernutrition-2013 in New Delhi on May 14.
The six selected fellows will each receive a stipend of Rs one lakh plus reimbursement of travel and accommodation up to a maximum of Rs 60,000. The selected fellows are required to publish six news or feature stories and a 5,000-word essay/analytical piece on the subject of undernutrition in the country over a six-month period, beginning immediately.
They were selected by an eminent panel of jury members including Sachidananda Murthy, Resident Editor, Malayalam Manorama Group; Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, independent journalist; Dr Subhadra Menon, Director, Health Communication & Adjunct Additional Professor, Public Health Foundation of India; Ritika Kochhar, Head, Chevening Scholarships, British High Commission, and Rajiv Tikoo, Director, OneWorld South Asia.
OneWorld has launched the fellowships in collaboration with POSHAN (Partnerships and Opportunities to Strengthen and Harmonize Actions for Nutrition in India), led by the International Food Policy Research Institute, on the issue of undernutrition in the country.
Undernutrition is a pressing issue in the country. The World Bank ranks India second in the world in terms of the number of children suffering from malnutrition in the age group of 0-6 years and around 2.1 million children die every year before reaching the age of 5. According to the National Family Health Survey (2005-06), 46% of children under the age of three are underweight in India compared to 28% in Sub Saharan Africa and 8% in China.
Tej Prakash
