International Dalit Media Day to be celebrated every year on January 31

Hyderabad: The International Dalit Journalist Network on Tuesday decided to celebrate International Dalit Media Day on January 31 every year beginning from this year.

On this occasion, the IDJN chairperson Mallepalli Laxmaiah and IDJN Secretary Rem Bahadur B K organised International Media Day Celebrations on January 31.

It is learnt that Dr BR Ambedkar established his first newspaper "Mooknayak" on January 31 in 1920.

Commemorating the occasion, the IDJN decided to celebrate International Dalit Media Day on January 31 from 2023.

While, renowned speakers from Nepal, Canada, Bangladesh, Pakistan and the US participated in the programme virtually, Dalit journalists from across the districts in the State also took part.

In his inaugural remarks, Additional Chief Secretary of Haryana Dr Raja Sekhar Vundru observed that the IDJN could bring out positive social change.

He wanted senior journalists to design a training curriculum for young Dalit journalists and help them in coping with technical and writing skills of contemporary journalists.

Senior Journalist K Ramachandra Murthy explained the role and power of media in society. He recalled the efforts of senior journalist Mallepalli Laxmaiah in achieving SCSP being a journalist. He explained how one article written by Mallepalli Laxmaiah in 2001 led to SCSP TSP legislation in united Andhra Pradesh in 2013.

Telangana State Media Academy Chairman Allam Narayana said media was a powerful tool to bring in social change. He stressed the importance of Dalit representation in the mainstream media as well as in digital media. He assured them of all support for conducting training programmes for Dalit journalists and upgrading their skills.