Laadli Award 2025 Winner: Puja Changoiwala's Gripping Tale of Meena Kotwal's Battle Against Caste Discrimination in Indian Journalism

Mumbai – Puja Changoiwala picked up her second Laadli Media and Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity on November 19, this time for a raw, eye-opening feature in Nieman Reports called "The Lonely Crusade Against Caste."

The story puts the spotlight on Meena Kotwal, the trailblazing journalist behind The Mooknayak, the news outlet that's shaking up India's media landscape by giving a platform to Dalits, Adivasis, and other overlooked groups. Changoiwala's piece doesn't pull punches, it lays bare Kotwal's uphill fight against caste walls in newsrooms and her push to build something better from the ground up.

The Laadli Foundation, teaming up with UNFPA India, handed out the award at a packed event in Mumbai, calling out Changoiwala's work for nailing the double whammy of caste and gender bias head-on. "For powerfully portraying a woman journalist's fight against caste and gender discrimination, and for highlighting the need for inclusivity and equity in media," the judges said in their citation.

In her x post, Changoiwala shouted out her editor Laura Colarusso for sticking with her through the six months of digging into the story on Meena- whom she calls 'incomparable'. "It would've been impossible without you," she states.

What makes Changoiwala's reporting hit hard is how it traces Kotwal's scars from her days at BBC Hindi, where everyday slights and outright roadblocks wore her down, to her bold move in 2021 to launch The Mooknayak on a shoestring budget. The platform's dug into gritty stories that big papers skip: brutal caste attacks, farmers losing land to shady deals, crumbling schools and clinics in the sticks, and the raw deal women get in forgotten corners of the country. Kotwal's crew doesn't just call out the mess, they lift up the wins, too, like local heroes pushing back against the odds. Even with death threats rolling in and cash always tight, The Mooknayak's pulled in over a million followers and scored nods from international heavyweights.

Changoiwala's win isn't just a pat on the back; it's a wake-up call for Indian journalism to clean house on its blind spots. Kotwal's story, shows how one person's grit can flip the script on who gets heard.

Quick Take on "The Lonely Crusade Against Caste"

Changoiwala's Nieman Reports story zeroes in on Meena Kotwal's rough road through a field stacked against her. Kicked around at BBC Hindi with ideas shot down and doors slammed because of her Dalit roots, she poured that fire into starting The Mooknayak, a scrappy online voice for the sidelined. Facing trolls, empty pockets, and real danger for calling out caste horrors, rural neglect, and women's daily grind, Kotwal turned it into a powerhouse that grills the perpetrators and spotlights survivors. It's a straight shot at fixing journalism's broken promises, proving one voice can spark a louder roar for fairness.