The Goa State Journalist Awards Scheme

What is the Goa State Journalist Awards Scheme?

The Goa State Journalist Awards Scheme-2015 is an annual awards scheme of the Department of Information and Publicity, Government of Goa, notified under No. DI/INF/GSJA/2015 and issued at Panaji on 4 March 2015. The scheme extends to the whole State and came into force on publication in the Official Gazette.

Under the scheme, the Government of Goa gives awards every year to journalists of the State who published commendable news items, articles or reports during the previous calendar year. The notification states the scheme is devised to encourage local journalists to exhibit their talents, and its objective clause adds that encouraging journalists to bring out good stories helps create mass awareness in society.

The Goa State Journalist Awards Scheme is a recognition scheme, not a welfare benefit. Journalists in Goa looking for financial assistance in an emergency should instead look at the Patrakar Kritadnyata Nidhi (Journalist Benevolent Fund), and those looking for a vehicle subsidy at the Subsidy to Purchase E-Bike for Journalists, both also run by the Department of Information and Publicity.

Who is eligible for the Goa State Journalist Awards?

A journalist can be considered if:

• The journalist works for a registered daily or weekly newspaper published in English, Konkani or Marathi, or for private sector electronic media in the State recognised by the Department of Information and Publicity.
• The news item, article or report was published during the previous calendar year. Awards are conferred for work published in that year.
• The journalist is sponsored by the Editor of the publication. The Department invites nominations from all Editors of eligible publications to sponsor the names of journalists working in their media organisations, along with the relevant press or video clippings.
• The nomination reaches the Director, Information and Publicity, by the deadline fixed by the Department for that year.

A journalist is not eligible, or cannot apply, if:

• The publication is not a registered daily or weekly newspaper in English, Konkani or Marathi, and is not recognised private sector electronic media in the State.
• The work was not published in the previous calendar year.
• There is no Editor's sponsorship. The scheme does not describe a self-application route, so an individual journalist cannot simply submit their own clippings. The Editor must sponsor the name.
• The nomination is submitted after the deadline fixed by the Department.

What are the award categories?

Awards are conferred for news items and articles published during the previous calendar year under each of the following seven categories:

1. Best Editor Award on National Integration and Communal Harmony
2. Rural Reporting
3. Reporting on Public Health and Hygiene
4. Reporting with special reference to Women and Children, or Social issues
5. Sports Reporting
6. Reporting on Art and Culture
7. Photo Journalism, best photograph of the year

How much is the award worth?

Each award carries a certificate, a memento and a cash prize of Rs 10,000. The scheme states that cash prizes amounting to Rs 70,000 shall be distributed among the winners, at Rs 10,000 in each category.

How to apply for the Goa State Journalist Awards

1. Watch for the Department's annual call for nominations. The Department of Information and Publicity invites nominations from all Editors of eligible publications and fixes the deadline for that year.
2. Ask your Editor to sponsor your name. The scheme routes entries through the Editor of the media organisation, who sponsors the names of journalists working there.
3. Assemble the qualifying work. Identify the news items, articles, reports or photographs published during the previous calendar year, and pick the category: one of the seven listed — under which the work is strongest.
4. Collect the press clippings, or the video clippings if the entry comes from recognised private sector electronic media.
5. Have the Editor submit the particulars of the sponsored journalists, together with the relevant press or video clippings, to the Director, Information and Publicity, Udyog Bhavan, 3rd Floor, Panaji, Goa 403001, by the deadline fixed by the Department.
6. Keep copies of everything submitted, since the clippings travel with the nomination.

How are the awards judged?

Judges for the selection of awardees are appointed by the State Government from time to time. The scheme directs the judges to take their decision on the basis of the objectivity of the work and reliance on authentic sources of the publications or reports, taking into account norms fixed by the State Government.

The scheme is explicit that the verdict of the judges shall be final, that no objection or complaint will be entertained, and that no verdict shall be challenged in court. Three judges are given an honorarium of Rs 2,000 each.

Key dates

• Previous calendar year, the period in which the entered work must have been published.
• Deadline fixed by the Department: Editors must submit sponsored names and clippings by this date. It is announced with the annual call and is not fixed permanently in the scheme.
• 16 November, National Press Day, the date on which the awards are given annually.

Why nominations get set aside

• Work published outside the previous calendar year. The scope clause fixes the eligible period.
• No Editor's sponsorship. Without the Editor's nomination, there is no valid entry under the scheme's process.
• Publication not registered, or the language of the newspaper falls outside English, Konkani and Marathi.
• Electronic media outlet not recognised by the Department of Information and Publicity.
• Missing clippings. The scheme requires the relevant press or video clippings to accompany the particulars of the sponsored journalist.
• Late submission, past the deadline fixed by the Department for that year.

Can the scheme change?

Yes. The relaxation clause allows the Department at any time to replace, alter, amend or add to the scheme, and gives it full authority to consider relaxation on a case-to-case basis on merits. The interpretation clause states that if a question arises about the interpretation of any provision, or a dispute about fulfilment of conditions, the decision of the Director of Information and Publicity is final and binding on all.

Where to ask questions or raise a grievance

The Department of Information and Publicity, Udyog Bhavan, 3rd Floor, Panaji, Goa 403001 administers the scheme. The telephones are 0832-2223157, 0832-2422675 and 0832-2226047, the fax is 0832-2224211 and the email is dipgoa@gmail.com. The full scheme notification is published as a PDF on the department's schemes page at dip.goa.gov.in, which is the document to quote in any correspondence.

There is no fee to be nominated and no agent is involved at any stage.

How to check your application status

The Goa State Journalist Awards Scheme has no online tracking portal and no application reference number, because the entry is a nomination made by an Editor, not an application filed by the journalist. Even so, there are ways to follow up once an Editor has sponsored a name.

1. Confirm with your Editor first. Since the Department deals only with the Editor who sponsored the nomination, the Editor's office is the first point of confirmation on whether the particulars and clippings were actually sent to the Director, Information and Publicity, and by what date.
2. Call the Department of Information and Publicity directly. Use one of the listed numbers, 0832-2223157, 0832-2422675 or 0832-2226047, and ask the desk handling the State Journalist Awards whether the Editor's submission for your name has been received for that year's cycle.
3. Write to the Department by email if a phone call is not convenient. Send a note to dipgoa@gmail.com quoting the Editor's name, the publication, the category the entry was sponsored under, and the year of the published work, and ask for confirmation of receipt.
4. Watch for the judging and announcement cycle. Since judges are appointed by the State Government and their verdict is declared final, there is no interim status such as "under review" or "shortlisted" that the Department publishes; the confirmed outcome only becomes public when awards are announced for presentation on 16 November, National Press Day.
5. Check the department's schemes page on dip.goa.gov.in around the awards season for any public notice, corrigendum, or list of selected awardees for that year, since result announcements are typically posted there rather than communicated individually to each nominated journalist.
6. If nothing is heard by National Press Day, treat the nomination as not selected for that year rather than pending, since the scheme does not commit to individually notifying journalists who are not chosen, only to presenting awards to the winners on the fixed date.

Because the scheme explicitly bars any objection, complaint, or court challenge against the judges' verdict, a status check should be read as a factual confirmation of receipt and outcome, not as a channel to contest a result.