Awardee Profiles

Smt. Kavita Devi is the editor in chief of Khabar Lahariya, a news website that focuses on rural news told from a feminist perspective. Started in 2002 as a Bundeli newspaper, Khabar Lahariya employs Dalit, Muslim, adivasi and Other Backward Class women as reporters and editors. At one point, the paper had eight editions in five languages, and was sold in eight districts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. For six months after finishing her education, she began working with Mahila Dakiya, a newsletter run by the same centre. This was her first stint as a reporter.

Working with Mahila Dakiya helped her realise the importance of a local newspaper that covered and brought forth the stories of her community. With help from the Delhi-based NGO Nirantar, she began Khabar Laharya, a women-run newspaper, with the aim to cover local news that went largely unreported and neglected by mainstream media.

Through Khabar Lahariya, she has brought together 30 women, especially from marginalized communities, to report on stories and reach out to around 10 million readers through multiple digital platforms.

In recognition of Smt. Devi’s contribution to the social sector in Bharat and in appreciation of her journalism, we, at MIT World Peace University, Pune, feel privileged, today on 3rd February 2023, to confer upon Smt. Kavita Devi the Bharat Asmita Jana Jagaran Shreshta Award for best use of Mass Media/NGO.