From Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, Dec 11: Media persons, politicians and bureaucrats paid rich tributes to famous journalist late Kalyan Barooah on his birthday today at an award function held in his memory at the Constitution Club here. Speakers led by Union Minister for Ports, Shipping, Waterways and Ayush Mr Sarbanda Sonowal eulogised Kalyan’s role as an impartial hard-working journalist who was liked by all politicians irrespective of their parties. Five journalists from the Northeastern region were given awards for their exceptional work that promoted and highlighted the under-reported region. Handing over the awards Sonowal said: “Kalyan had his own conviction and commitment towards any issue related to the Northeast. He always tried to help us with more value addition on different issues.”
The Assam Tribune scribe Kalyan Barooah and his wife Nilakshi Bhattacharyya who was a senior journalist in Time of India died due to Covid19 in 2021 during the second wave. The function was organised by North East Media Forum (NEMF) and My Home India. Hailing the activities of NEMF, Sonowal said that NEMF is now 30 years old. “It has now developed into a different kind of dimension and has lots of actions. The NEMF should unite all parts of the country,” he said, adding that in the last nine years, Northeast has witnessed a remarkable development. The winners were handed the awards which included a trophy, a citation and a cash prize. The winners are Deepak Dewan (for lifetime achievement), Ranju Dodum (best electronic media person), Partha Jyoti Borah (best electronic media person), Binod Tamang (video journalism) and Gitika Talukdar (best photography). My Home India founder Sunil Deodhar who addressed the function said that this event will now be held each year. Himself being a reputed journalist, he recalled how Kalyan used to interact with all sections of people and parties with equal ease.