Reuters team wins Ramnath Goenka Award for coverage of COVID-19 in rural India

Date: 6 June 2025

By: JJ

The Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards recently recognized a team of Reuters journalists for their COVID-19 pandemic coverage in 2020.

Alasdair Pal, Devjyot Ghoshal, Saurabh Sharma, and the late Danish Siddiqui were awarded the 2020 trophy in the Uncovering India Invisible category, which honors substantiative and intelligent reporting of rural issues.

Stories recognized by the judges included:

"The long road home" by Alasdair Pal and Danish Siddiqui captured the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers leaving the cities as the Indian government locked down the country to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Dayaram Kushwaha, a migrant worker, carries his 5-year-old son, Shivam, on his shoulders as they walk along a road to return to their village, during a 21-day nationwide lockdown to limit the spreading of coronavirus, in New Delhi, India, March 26, 2020. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

"Last doctor standing: Pandemic pushes Indian hospital to brink" by Danish Siddiqui documented how a doctor treated COVID-19 patients in an eastern India hospital.

Medical staff treat a patient inside the emergency ward of Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College and Hospital, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Bhagalpur, Bihar, India, July 27, 2020. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

"Back to the paddy fields" by Saurabh Sharma and Devjyot Ghoshal documented how the pandemic smashed Indian middle-class dreams.

Dayaram Kushwaha, a migrant worker who returned home from New Delhi, harvests wheat during nationwide lockdown in India to slow the spread of the coronavirus, in Jugyai village in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, India, April 8, 2020. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

The Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards, honoring Indian Express Group's founder, aims to recognize journalists' courage and integrity and commitment to maintaining the highest standards of the profession. The awards are judged on the significance of a news story, resourcefulness and courage in gathering information.

For more award-winning content, visit Reuters.com.

Media contact:
JJ Minder
jj.minder @ tr.com

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