The prestigious ACJ Award for Investigative Journalism has been awarded to “Nileena MS” a reporter of ‘The Caravan’ Magazine. She got the award for her investigative story cover over “Coalgate 2.0: The Adani Group reaps benefits worth thousands of crores of rupees as the cola scam continues under the Modi Government”.
The award was given by the Asian College of Journalism with the support of Media Development Foundation which recognizes and encourages the best work of investigation Journalism produced for Indian readers, audiences, and viewers to promote journalism in the public interest. The award includes a trophy, a citation and prize money of Rs. 2 Lakh.
The final jury includes Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Nilita Vachani, and Dr. A R Venkatachalapathy unanimously made their choice over Nileena MS. The reporting piece meets the criteria of what comprises a god work of investigative journalism, which combines thorough research while revealing the new pieces of evidence to reveal the truth in the public interest. The investigation reveals how a joint venture between Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited and Adani Enterprises Limited function on the defined agreements that the pre-date a landmark Supreme Court judgment from September 2014.
Other stories that were included in the final nominations and have been awarded special mentions by the jury under the award ceremony are The Chronicle of Crime Fiction which was ‘Adityanath's Encounter Raj' investigated by Neha Dixit and published by The Wire.
Another included story was ‘The Death of Judge Loya' investigated by Nikita Saxena for ‘The Caravan’ magazine.
The third included story was Nileena's story investigates ‘the allotment of captive coal blocks in Chhattisgarh's Parba East and Kanta Basan regions’. The article explores deforestation, re-locations of people, loss of livelihood, and denial of forest rights to tribal.
