President Pranab Mukherjee disapproved of ‘award wapsi’, asking national award winners for excellence in journalism to cherish and value their awards.
Appealing to the recipients of the national honour, he asked intellectuals to not let emotions “overrun reason”.
He spoke about ‘The impact and import of cartooning and caricatures as a medium of expression of opinion’.
He presented national awards of Press Council of India to journalists and news photographers.
At the function organised by the Press Council of India (PCI) on the occasion of National Press Day, Mukherjee paid tributes to legendary cartoonists like RK Laxman and Rajinder Puri.
In a democracy, he said, various challenges will emerge from time to time and these should be addressed collectively.
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore and PCI chairman Justice (retd) CK Presad were also present at the event.
(With inputs from PTI)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)