Kavita Devi (journalist)
Indian journalist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kavita Devi, alternatively Kavita Bundelkhandi,[1][2] is an Indian journalist and news presenter.[3] She is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of the grassroots feminist news network Khabar Lahariya.[2][4] Devi was notably the first Dalit ("untouchable") to become a member of the Editor's Guild of India.[3]
Kavita Bundelkhandi | |
|---|---|
| Born | Kavita Devi Kunjan Purwa, Chitrakoot district, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Occupations | Editor-in-Chief and News Anchor at Khabar Lahariya |
| Awards | Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Women Mediapersons (collective) |
Biography
Kavita Devi was born in the remote village of Kunjan Purwa,[5] near Banda, Uttar Pradesh, to a family of Dalit farmers.[2][6] The eldest among six children,[5] she was married off at the age of 12 and received no formal education.[7] In her testimony, Devi states that a non-government organisation (NGO) had opened a center in her village where she studied extensively for six months,[5] and after substantial resistance from other villagers including her family.[8] She is noted to have been the first woman from her village to have received an education as a result.[9] In later years, she has gone on to complete her graduation and earned a Master of Arts in journalism.[6]
Devi states that she started working with a small newsletter Mahila Dakiya, which was run by the center in her village and marked the beginning of her journalistic career.[3][6] Eventually in 2002,[9] she co-founded Khabar Lahariya along with seven other women, with the support an NGO called Nirantar,[10] and funding from the Dorabji Tata Trust, the National Foundation of India and the Dalit Foundation.[11][12] In 2004, the journalists at the paper collectively became the recipient of the Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Women Mediapersons.[10] By 2014, the paper had six editions and journalist staff of around 40 women.[13] It was described by Business Standard, as having become the backbone of the people in the impoverished rural regions of Bundelkhand and Awadh, in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.[14]
Over time, Devi has served in a number of positions in the organisation such as the editor of the Banda edition,[15] the head of digital operations,[16] and initially as a solo field journalist.[7] She also runs a weekly news commentary show called The Kavita Show on the network and has been the editor-in-chief since 2019.[6][17] In the same year, she appeared as a speaker at a TED conference which resulted in widespread attention on her story,[18] and was described by the host and actor Shah Rukh Khan as an inspiration.[19]