PUNE: Dr Nanasaheb Parulekar Memorial Award has been declared and it will be given to Sakal Media Group’s Agrowon Senior Reporter Manoj Kapade, Sakal Nashik edition reporter Naresh Halnor and Mumbai edition reporter Prashant Kamble in a glittering ceremony to be held at Balgandharva Rangmandir on Friday. The award will be given by Marathi director Nagraj Manjule. 

The award, instituted in the memory of ‘Sakal’ founder-editor Late Nanasaheb Parulekar, is given to journalists who have done extraordinary work in the field of journalism every year. 

The award was given through the funds given by freedom fighter late NA Pendse.

Kapade’s news pieces on the exploitation of farmers and agriculture entrepreneurs through ‘Agrowon’ brought many positive changes in the functioning of the State Agriculture Department. 

Similarly, Halnor, through his series of news on ‘Incubatorcha kondwada’ (breathless incubators), exposed in 2017, the reason behind high mortality rate among the neo-natal. The series woke up the district administration and reduced the mortality rate at the government-run hospital to half. 

After a disabled farmer applied for loan for farming, Apang Vikas Mahamandal put the loan burden on that farmer’s 7/12 extract impending the process of providing loan to disabled farmers. After Kamble exposed this disparity through his news, the organisation took quick steps and cleared the loan.