Veteran journalist and former PCI member Kosuri Amarnath, passed away today at 69 due to Covid-19 complications.
Veteran journalist and former Press Council of India (PCI) member Kosuri Amarnath, passed away today at 69 due to Covid-19 complications. He had been receiving treatment at the NIMS in Hyderabad for the last few days.
One of the leaders of the working journalists union movement in the country, he is survived by his wife and son.
Fondly known as Babai by his peers and juniors, the journalist, in his career of 40 years, had devoted himself to fighting for the freedom of the press, and the rights and welfare of journalists in India.
Born in Mamuduru village of West Godavari district, Amarnath first started his career as a staff member of the UPSC in Delhi. Ten years later, he left that job and joined the Andhrabhoomi in Hyderabad as a member of the publication's editorial team and retired as a news editor in 2010. Later, he also worked at the NSS as a special correspondent, with Hans India as an assistant editor, and as the editor of Scribes News. a magazine run by the Indian Journalists Union (IJU) dedicated to the issues of journalists.
The veteran journalist was also a member of the PCI for two terms as a representative of the IJU. During his stint, he had headed a PCI committee on attacks against journalists and had toured across the country before submitting a detailed report where he made a case for the necessity of a separate statute for the safety of working journalists.
He had also served as the President of the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) for one term, and was the IJU Secretary for three terms.
Many of Amarnath's comrades, including IJU President K Sreenivas Reddy, former IJU President Devulapalli Amar, IJU Vice-President Ambati Anjaneyulu, IJU Secretary Y Narender Reddy, and National Executive Committee members of the IJU Alapati Suresh Kumar, D Somsundar, K Satyanaratana and D Krishna Reddy expressed their shock and sorrow at his demise as did PCI members M A Majid and I V Subba Rao, APUWJ President Chandu Janardhan and General Secretary N Sekhar, and Telangana State Union of Working Journalists President Virahath Ali.
Other prominent figures who expressed their grief over the senior journalist's passing include former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, ministers K T Rama Rao, T Harish Rao, Errabelli Dayakar Rao and Satyavathi Rathod, MP Joginapally Santosh, and Telangana Press Academy Chairman Allam Narayana.
The public figures all conveyed their condolences to the members of the bereaved family, and said that the loss of Amarnath was a loss to Indian journalism.
Lauding his contributions to the welfare of journalists in India, they also remembered his extensive work in the area.