Veteran Journalist P. Sainath Refuses YSR Lifetime Achievement Award

Veteran Indian Journalist P. Sainath on Wednesday declined the YSR Lifetime Achievement Award from the Andhra Pradesh government.

The founder editor of People's Archive of Rural India, explained in a series of tweet, why journalist should not accept awards from governments which they cover as they are "external" auditors to the government.

"Journalists should not accept awards from governments they cover or critique. If the external auditor of a venture you were invested in was accepting the company's awards, you would be furious. The journalist is an external auditor to government," he tweeted.

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Sainath stressed that a journalist unlike people representing the arts, sports and other groups "scrutnise the government's function".

"The point of non-acceptance is less about governments and more about the personal and professional ethical protocols of the journalist," he wrote, adding, "I do not seek to impose mine on other journalists – others who choose to accept state awards have a right to do so".

"But it is on this belief – that independent journalists should not accept awards from governments they could be covering or critiquing tomorrow – that I must respectfully decline the YSR Lifetime Achievement Award from the Andhra Pradesh government," he concluded the tweets.

As per reports, awardees would be receiving a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh as well as a memento.

In his journalistic career of 28 years, Sainath, who has received over 35 awards and fellowships, both national and international, including the 'Asian Nobel', the Magsaysay Award, in 2007, has noticeably not accepted a single government or state award. Sainath had refused to accept the Padmashree, the fourth highest civilian honour, in 2009.

Last week, Sainath was awarded the Fukuoka Grand Prize for 2021, which is established by Japan's Fukuoka city and the Fukuoka City International Foundation. The award is given to individuals and organisations for their work in preserving Asian culture.

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