The Society of Economic Journalists - Nepal (SEJON) has partnered with Himalayan Bank Ltd (HBL) to award fellowships to economic journalists to encourage them in in-depth reporting on economic issues.

The fellowship of Rs 50,000 will be awarded to four economic journalists — one each from newspapers in English and Nepali categories, radio/television, and online media category on an annual basis.

SEJON and HBL have agreed to form a three-member jury committee to select the award winning reports. The committee will comprise the president of SEJON, one of the past presidents of SEJON appointed by the executive committee of the Society, and a representative appointed by the chief executive officer of HBL.

HBL CEO Ashoke SJB Rana and SEJON President Gokarna Awasthi signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding the fellowship award today.

Speaking during the MoU signing ceremony, HBL CEO Rana said that this initiative was taken by the bank to promote economic journalism in the country, which has been playing an effective role to build the understanding of common people on economic issues. “This is our academic partnership with SEJON and we always respect free, fair and professional journalism.”

Also speaking in the programme, SEJON President Awasthi highlighted that the partnership with HBL for the fellowship award is a purely academic tie-up, which will further enhance the capacity of economic journalists.