Gandaki Province Honors 5 Senior Journalists

Kaski. The Gandaki Province Press Registrar's Office has initiated the honor of senior journalists. In the Gandaki Media Summit-2083 and Senior Journalist Honor Ceremony held in Pokhara on Saturday, 5 senior journalists of the province were honored. 

Those honored include Pokhara's senior journalist late Keshavraj Parajuli, Tilakman Gubhaju, Nawalpur's Premchandra Rauniyar, Tanahu's Vishwabandhu Bhandari, and Parbat's Saraswati Sharma Gyasu.

Chief Guest Gandaki Province Chief Minister Surendraraj Pandey honored them with a cash prize of Rs 50,000 each, a copper plate, and a shawl. On behalf of the late Parajuli, who passed away just three days ago, former chairpersons of the Federation of Nepali Journalists Kaski, Krishnaprasad Bastola and Narayan Karki, received the honor. On this occasion, a book titled 'Journalism of Our Time' written about the honored personalities was also released.

Parajuli, who passed away at the age of 91 on the night of Jestha 16, was the founder and editor of Janmat Daily and a freedom fighter. Another honored personality, Gubhaju, is the guest editor of Adarsh Samaj National Daily, who started journalism in 2025 BS. Nawalpur's Premchandra Rauniyar has been active in journalism for three decades, while Tanahu's Vishwabandhu Bhandari has been practicing journalism for five decades and continuously publishing the magazine 'Bhanjyang'. Parbat's Saraswati Sharma Gyasu is a social change activist and litterateur.

Speaking at the program, Chief Minister Pandey expressed the view that the press should be free and no one should be obstructed from writing the truth. Discussing the challenges in the mass media along with technology, he said, 'We must be able to make the public understand the difference between social media and mainstream journalism, and the media should also point out the government's shortcomings.'

Press Registrar Bimala Bhandari, in her welcome speech, stated that a campaign has been launched to preserve the lives, struggles, experiences, and contributions of senior journalists in the form of books and digital archives. She said that this honor has been initiated because history survives only through documentation. Vishwabandhu Bhandari expressed happiness on behalf of the honored journalists.

Speaking about the current media crisis, Federation of Nepali Journalists Gandaki Province Chairman Ramesh Poudel demanded that media outlets that failed renewal be given a one-time exemption and the facility to renew. The selection committee formed under the convenorship of Law and Communication Secretary Krishnaprasad Lamsal selected the names of the honored journalists. In the program organized with the slogan 'Clean Press: Prosperous Gandaki Province', a deep discussion was also held on the economy of media and AI in journalism.