Tinka Tinka India Awards 2017: Press Coveage

Tinka Tinka India Awards 2017

Human Rights Day: Inmates & Jail officials honoured

Awards aimed at prison reforms & creativity inside jails

· Gujarat, Chattisgarh, Telangana, Kerala, UP, Madhya Pradesh sent the maximum entries

· Awards released by Shri Ajay Kashyap, DG, Tihar

· Awards initiated by Vartika Nanda, a prison reformer, under the banner Tinka Tinka, a series dedicated to jails

· Tinka Tinka India Awards, dedicated to the cause of prison reforms, are dominated by the entries on Life inside Jails andSwachch Bharat Abhiyan this year

First Prize under the Tinka Tinka India Awards (Painting) has been given to 73 year old Baish Singh Sahu lodged in Bilaspur Jail in Chattisgarh. His painting is based on the theme of reformation inside jails. Second Prize has also been bagged by Chattishgarh Jail. 22 year old Mamta has been chosen in this category. Third Prize has been given to 24 year old P. Gowresh lodged in Telangana jail. Before coming to jail, Gowresh was a photographer.

Under the Special Mention category, Vinay Kumar lodged in Tihar Jail, received the First Prize for his passionate work on drug eradication through theatre. He is lodged in jail for the last 15 years.  Dhawal Kumar Harish Chandra Dwidedi lodged in Gujarat and Aneesh Kumar from Kerala has been chosen for their work on literacy and cleanliness. Soni Lama fromWest Bengal has received the recognition for caring the inmates in the jail hospital. 

49 year old Virendra Vitthalbhai Vaishnav, a former journalist and cartoonist lodged in Surat Jail, Gujarat has been nominated for Tinka Tinka India Awards for Special Talent. His book Life behind bars has been published by a UK based publisher.

Fifteen officers have been selected for Tinka Tinka India Awards for Prison Reforms. Akula Narsimha from Telangana has been chosen for improving sanitation in jails and bringing in modernisation. Bachu Saidaiah, also from Telangana, has planted more than 2000 saplings and have helped in increasing productivity in the jails.

S S Tigga from Chhatishgarh has added more than 2000 books to the jail library and have given meaning to the children of inmates in jails.  

Ajay Bhatia, Neetu Chugh and Rajendra Kumar were awarded the special awards in the category for prison administrators for their work towards providing legal aid to inmates in Tihar.  

Thomas O J from Kerala, D M Gohel from Gujarat, Vikrant Karbhari Kute and Tejashri Baji Rao Powar fromMaharashtra, Mohammed Akram Khan from UP, Dilip Nayak, Devendra Kumar Saras, Ramanand Patel andDhirendra Singh Baghel from Madhya Pradesh have also been honoured for their extraordinary contribution as jail administrators.

These awards were released by Shri Ajay Kashyap, IPS, Director General, Tihar Jail. Awardees were given a certificate of appreciation and a memento.

The ceremony concluded with the song- Tinka Tinka Tihar, written by Vartika Nanda and sung by the inmates of Tihar.

Tinka Tinka is the series on prison reforms initiated by Prison Reformer Dr Vartika Nanda. She was conferred the Stri Shakti Award by the then President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee in 2014. Her book Tinka Tinka Tihar is in the Limca Book of Records. Her latest book, Tinka Tinka Dasna, is first of its kind based on reporting from inside the jails. This book has been translated by Dr Nupur Talwar, convicted in Aarushi Talwar case. Tinka Tinka is all set to combine different jails in India to bring out the creativity to the outside world.

Tinka Tinka Foundation gives two awards to inmates and officials every year namely Tinka Tinka India Awards and Tinka Tinka Bandini Awards.