New Delhi: At a time when most newsrooms were reticent in sending reporters out on the field, the young journalists at ThePrint were at the forefront of its Covid-19 coverage. Our reporters travelled across the length and breadth of the country bringing you important stories about the pandemic — both from the corridors of power and the people their decision impacted.
Here are the names of ThePrint’s journalists, along with the stories, whose work was cited by the IPI jury while conferring the award.
- Jyoti Yadav
During the pandemic, Jyoti Yadav was on the field in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. One of her stories from Lucknow showed how there may be large gaps between the official death due to Covid, as made public by the government, and what the actual numbers might be. The proof? The large number of funerals that Lucknow alone saw on 15 April, was higher than the total Covid deaths reported in the entire state.
Another story by Jyoti, from UP, documented the harrowing predicament of journalist Vinay Srivastava’s family, who died of the infection during the second wave without treatment.
One of the most ironic things that happened during the pandemic was the many state elections that took place. During this time, Jyoti documented the tale of teachers who were forced to do poll duty during the time. Among them, Kalyani Agrahari, an 8-month-pregnant lady who later succumbed to the virus ten days after panchayat poll duty.
And in the neighbouring state of Bihar, the situation wasn’t much better. For example, in Buxar, Jyoti reported on how a hospital had six ventilators but no staff to operate them.
2. Soniya Agrawal
Transparency in Covid numbers was a major administrative issue during the pandemic across the country. In Ahmedabad, Soniya Agrawal reported how many deaths during the time were being tagged as “death by illness” instead of the virus. Families of the deceased at the time said that the government was trying to keep numbers low.
3. Praveen Jain
Along with our National Photo Editor Praveen Jain, Soniya also documented how at the largest Covid hospital in Ahmedabad, the wait for a bed was 5-6 hours while the wait for an ambulance was 12 hours at least.
4. Fatima Khan
From Madhya Pradesh, Fatima Khan reported a disturbing social phenomenon. As Covid restrictions also brought restrictions in the number of wedding guests and other things, it led to a surge in child marriages. Why? Because now, weddings were easier to afford.
5. Aneesha Bedi
While the country grappled with grief, politics continued as usual. Aneesha Bedi, in her report from Delhi, showed how the Delhi government’s expert medical panel to look into oxygen shortages in the city, never took off due to what seemed like back and forth between the Arvind Kejriwal-led government and the Lieutenant General’s office.
6. Manisha Mondal
ThePrint’s photojournalist Manisha Mondal was on the ground in Delhi visually documenting the harrowing tales of oxygen shortage, death and desperation. Like all journalists, the experience took a toll on her, but she documented every bit in this photo gallery.
7. Suraj Bisht Singh
In Raipur, our photojournalist Suraj Bisht was witness to another resource apart from beds and oxygen that fell short during the pandemic. As the death toll rose, there were not enough hearses to ferry the dead.