Dr. Vartika Nanda

Dr. Vartika Nanda is media educator and India’s leading prison reformer. Her domain expertise lies in journalism – its teaching, training and practice. With a doctorate in journalism and coverage of rape cases by print media, she has over two decades of experience in electronic and print media. Earlier, she worked as Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. She has worked both with the public service broadcaster and also the private media, including Zee News, NDTV, Lok Sabha TV and Sahara India.  She started early, as the youngest among the very few women reporters in India who ventured into crime reporting and rose to become the head of crime beat in NDTV in the early years of private media. She was the first woman reporter in electronic media to head the crime beat. She was the first Executive Producer of Lok Sabha TV and played pivotal role in the conception, setting up and running of the channel.  She was the youngest child anchor in Asia in the early eighties on Doordarshan. 

Recent Research :

  • 2019-20: Her research on the “Study of the condition of women inmates and their children in Indian Prisons and their communication needs with special reference to Uttar Pradesh” (ICSSR 2019-20) has been evaluated as OUTSTANDING  and recommended for publication.

Research Papers :

  • Corona, jail aur samvaad ke saadhan ke taur per telephone:Gagananchal: Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India: 2021
  • Jail main sangeet, samvaad aur media: Gagananchal: Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India:  2021
  • Tinka jail patrakarita ka ek academic prayog:Tihar jail main lekhan aur aatm-abhivyakti: Samvad Path: Ministry of Education, Government of India: 2020
  • Radio ke zariye jail main patrakarita: Samvad Path:  Ministry of Education, Government of India: 2020

Innovative Pedagogy :

The blog www.vartikananda.blogspot.com holds a rich documentation of teacher-student learning. The blog was started by Dr. Vartika Nanda in 2006 when she was the Executive Producer of Lok Sabha TV.  After joining the Department of Journalism at Lady Shri Ram College for Women in 2009, the blog shifted its primary focus to four things – media education, classroom teaching, academic documentation  and prison reforms. This blog worked as a live classroom, especially during Covid-19. The blog has 16 sections , including those related to Department of Journalism, Lady Shri Ram College and syllabi-related readings of BA(Hons) in Journalism, prescribed by Delhi University.

Prison Reformer: Vartika Nanda is the founder of Tinka Tinka Foundation, a public charitable trust dedicated to introducing positive change in the lives of inmates. She has introduced prison radios in Haryana and in the District Jails of Agra (Uttar Pradesh) and Dehradun (Uttarakhand).  She has initiated two awards exclusively for inmates – Tinka Tinka India Awards and Tinka Tinka Bandini Awards. These awards are aimed at encouraging inmates towards creative writing and work on art and literature. Her 3 books on jails are considered to be the authentic versions of prison life.

Storytelling through Podcasts: Vartika Nanda’s Tinka Tinka Jail Radio Podcasts are the only podcasts in India that are solely dedicated to the cause of prison reforms.  She has also conceptualised Kissa Khaki Ka, an exclusive weekly podcast series by Delhi Police. She is the host and narrator of these podcasts and thus identified widely as the”Voice of Delhi Police”. This is the first podcast by any police department in India.  This work is undertaken by her on honorary basis.

Prison Radio :

  • 2021: Introduced, conceptualised and executed prison radio in the state of Haryana. First prison radio was inaugurated in District Jail, Panipat in 2021 by Shri Ranjit Singh, Jail Minister, Shri Rajeev Arora (IAS), ACS, Home & Health and Shri K. Selvaraj, DG, Prisons.
  • 2021: Introduced prison radio in the state of Uttarakhand.
  • 2019: Introduced, trained and executed prison radio in District Jail, Agra. This is the oldest prison building in India.
  • 2018: Action oriented research on prisons and communication was taken cognizance by the Supreme Court of India in 2018. Her suggestions on the issues of women inmates’ and children’s rights and concerns were appreciated and included in the proceedings. She participated in the Supreme Court of India’s proceedings conducted on March 27 and May 8, 2018 in the matter of “Re-Inhuman conditions in 1382 prisons.”

Creation of ICT mediated Teaching Learning pedagogy :

  • Presented more than 20 lectures at CEC, UGC and other platforms. Some of these are available at Lectures – Vartika Nanda
  • 2020:Wrote a chapter on “Writing for Different Media (Print, Radio, Television, Digital)” for PG level students of Journalism & Mass Communication, School of Journalism & New Media Studies, Open & Distance Learning (ODL) mode for Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi.
  • 2017: Wrote a chapter on “Freedom of Press & Regulations: Debates & Contests’ under section News & Society for Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi.

Books on Journalism & Mass Communication :

  • Nanda, V. (2018). Media Laws and Ethics, Kanishka Publishers
  • Nanda, V. (2018). Media aur Bazar, Samayik Publishers
  • Nanda, V. (2017).  Radio Journalism in India, Kanishka Publishers
  • Nanda, V. (2010). Television aur Crime Reporting. Rajkamal Prakashan 
  • Nanda, V. (2005). Television aur Apraadh Patrakarita Crime Reporting, Indian Institute of Mass Communication 

Poetry Collections :

  • Nanda, V. (2015). Raniyan Sab Janti Hain. Delhi: Vani Prakashan. (selected amongst TOP 5 books by Femina)
  • Nanda, V. (2012). Thee. Hoon..Rahungi… Delhi: Rajkamal Prakashan

Books on Prisons :

  • Nanda, V. (2018) Tinka Tinka Madhya Pradesh (Hindi),  Tinka Tinka Foundation
  • Nanda, V. (2016). Tinka Tinka Dasna (Hindi), Tinka Tinka Foundation:  ( First ever reporting from the jail)
  • Nanda, V. (2016) Tinka Tinka Dasna (English), Tinka Tinka Foundation: (This book has been translated by Dr. Nupur Talwar from the prison)
  • Nanda, V & Mehra, V. (Eds.) (2013). Tinka Tinka Tihar, Rajkamal Prakashan ( Included in the Limca Book of Records)

International Conferences :

  • 2019: Presented paper on the “Role of radio in community communication in prisons in India” at international conference of IAMCR (International Association for Media and Communication Research) held in Madrid, Spain: 7-11 July.
  • 2018: Presented paper on “Jailein, Media aur Samvaad kee Seemaayein”at the 11th Vishwa Hindi Sammelan in Port Louis, Mauritius: 2018: 18-20 August.
  • 2017: 25 March: Presented paper on “Industry academia linkage: Who drives the agenda” at the national seminar on Communication Education 3.O: Synergizing Technology and Development organised by the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, Tezpur University, Assam:  25-26 March

National Conferences :

2021: Keynote speaker at the  7th National Conference of Heads of Prisons, organised by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), conducted on 7 – 8 October 2021 in New Delhi. 

2019:  Delivered a lecture at the national level course on the “Rights of Women Prisoners in India and the role of media” on 25th March, 2019 at the National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science, MHA..Delhi:   25-27 March.

2019: Delivered a lecture at the 6th National Conference of Heads of Prisons of States / UTs on  “Mechanism for Productive Engagement of Under Trial Prisoners and the Role of Media” organised by BPR&D, MHA, Government of India and Madhya Pradesh Prisons & Correctional Services Department: Bhopal. 26th and 27th February.

2019: Presented paper on “Media ke badalte parivesh main samudayik radio” at Miranda College, Delhi University: 7 February.

Honours & Awards :

  • 2014: President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee conferred the Stree Shakti Puraskar on her in Rashtrapati Bhavan in 2014. This award was given in recognition for her contribution in creating awareness on women’s issues through media and literature. This is the highest civilian honour for women empowerment in India.
  • 2022:  Dr. Vartika Nanda was featured in an exclusive documentary by BRUT, titled ‘Sound of Reform in Panipat Jail’. This documentary is based on her work in bringing radio in the jails of Haryana.  
  • 2022: Laadli Media & Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity in the Web Podcast  (Hindi) category by Population First for   Tinka Tinka Jail Radio Podcast, episode 11, titled- Holi and Karnal Jail Radio, conceived and produced by Tinka Tinka Foundation. Hyderabad: 2 November 
  • 2018: Conferred with Madhav Rao Sapre Journalism Award for the year 2018 by Madhav Rao Sapre Smriti Sa-machar Patra Sanghrahaly aur Shodh Sansthan, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
  • 2017: Vartika Nanda’s song, Tinka Tinka Tihar,entered into the Limca Book of Records for its uniqueness. This is the second record set by her in the field of prison reforms.
  • 2015: Included in the Limca Book of Records, 2015, her book, Tinka Tinka Tihar (Co authored with Vimla Mehra, IPS, DG, Delhi Prisons) is the first book of a collection of poems written by selected women inmates of Tihar Jail.
  • 2015: Laadli Media and Advertising Award for Gender Sensitivity for the year 2013-14 for the public service film – Nanakpura Kuch Nahi Bhoolta. This film was selected as the Best issue based Documentary in Hindi for the Northern Region.
  • 2007: Received the Bhartendu Harish Chandra Award by the Information & Broadcasting Ministry for her book- Television aur Apradh Patrakarita.

Relevant Links: 

  1. Google Link:Vartika Nanda – Google Search
  2. Brut International:2022 Brut Panipat Jail Radio Revolution – YouTube
  3. Websites: www.vartikananda.com/ www.tinkatinka.org