Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has felicitated Greater Kashmir correspondent Zehru Nissa for bagging the prestigious International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) Global Health Reporting Award 2017.Nissa was conferred with ICFJ award at a function at the New York Times headquarters in New York city, USA on September 18. She has has got this award for a series of reports on maternal healthcare in J&K. She is among six winners selected by a distinguished panel of judges of ICFJ from more than 130 submissions from across the world.In her felicitation message, Mehbooba said she was happy to see J&K’s young boys and girls emerging with flying colours in various fields and bringing laurels to the State.Congratulating Zehru Nissa Nissa for the prestigious award, Mehbooba said she has become a great inspiration for her colleagues in and outside the State. "I wish this enterprising young journalist best of luck for her career in journalism," she said and hailed Greater Kashmir management for providing the young lady with the opportunity to make a mark in the field of journalism.
Mehbooba stressed the need for increased participation of JK's girls in the field of journalism to effectively raise the gender and societal issues confronting the State's women. She said women journalists need encouragement and a conducive office environment to exhibit their talent in a secure and comfortable environment."Some women journalists have complained to me that most of the newspaper and media offices in J&K don't have the basic facility of a separate washroom for the female staff," she said and added that the media offices should at least provide this indispensable basic facility for the female journalists to work comfortably.The Chief Minister said she would ask the Director Information to explore the possibility of constructing dedicated rest room and washroom facilities for female journalists both at Press Colony in Srinagar and at Press Club Jammu.She said the media must come forward to sensitively deal with the image of women and effectively disseminate achievements by JK's women in different fields.