TOI reporter wins Ramnath Goenka Award for Citizen Reporting

The Times of India’s Pune correspondent Sandip Dighe on Friday received the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism at the Prakash Kadaili Memorial Award for Citizen Journalism.Vice President CP Radhakrishnan presented the 2024 award to Dighe at an event in New Delhi. Dighe was awarded for his extensive coverage of irregularities at the Old Grant Bungalow in Pune and Khadki Cantonment area in 2024.His report highlighted discrepancies such as use of these residential properties for commercial activities, unauthorized construction and, in some cases, sale of bungalows to builders in violation of orders issued by defense authorities with no-objection certificates. He also reported on some civic issues affecting both encampment areas.This series of reports came to the attention of the Directorate General of Defense Property, the Inspector General of State Registration and Army authorities, who subsequently took appropriate action to prevent such transactions.