The ACJ Award for Investigative Journalism carries a cash prize of INR 2 lakh.

The winner of the K P Narayana Kumar Memorial Award for Social Impact Journalism shallbe awarded INR 1 lakh.

The winner of the Ashish Yechury Memorial Award forPhotojournalism, will also receive INR 1 lakh.

All winners also receive a citation and a trophy.

Organisations, teams or individuals may apply themselves or be nominated by anyone, depending on the nature of the work. A team may consist of a maximum of five members.

For the 2025 ACJ Awards, all journalistic pieces published between January 1, 2025-Dec 31, 2025 are eligible.

Works in print, digital, text, multimedia (videos, podcasts, graphics, etc.) are eligible for the awards.

The last date for filing of nominations is March 2, 2026. The awards will be announced on May 3, 2026, the World Press Freedom Day.

Entries should have been published primarily for, and accessed by, audiences in India. Entries that have been published with foreign audiences as their primary target will not be considered. The decision of the jury in this regard is final.

Each entrant (individual or team) can submit a maximum of three separate entries in each award category—investigative, social impact and photojournalism. It is incumbent on the entrant to determine which category best suits their work, and apply only in that category. The same entry should not be submitted in multiple award categories. The relevance of the entry to the category in which it is nominated will be determined by the jury.

Each entry could have several parts, such as a series of articles or episodes in a web series. For long-running series, it is recommended that entries be confined to those stories, podcasts, video features, etc. that best represent the series. Entries with multiple parts or a series should have a cogent narrative that string elements together. The ACJ Awards Committee and/or juries may determine the maximum number of entries that might be considered as a part of an entry. Wide-ranging works such as books or entire websites cannot be nominated as a single entry.

Entries can be made for work appearing in any language, as long as an English language translation is provided for the judging process. The English translation should be faithful to the original work. The work will be judged based on the English translation. The Awards Committee/jury may ask for authentication of the translated version if deemed necessary.

Yes, provided a major/significant part of the series or work is published in the calendar year/period for which entries are open. The decision of the jury will be final in this regard.

Please contact Lakshmi Ramji, Bursar, ACJ.
Email: lakshmi.acj@gmail.com, acjawards@gmail.com
Tel: 044 22542842/45

A three-member jury selects the award-winning entries in each category. The jury for the 2025 ACJ Awards will announced after the nominations close.

Please contact Lakshmi Ramji, Bursar, ACJ.
Email: lakshmi.acj@gmail.com, acjawards@gmail.com
Tel: 044 22542842/45