St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata (SXUK) in association with Press Club, Kolkata and UNICEF, conducted an eight-day Faculty Development Programme (FDP) on Development Journalism from September 17 - 24, 2022 in hybrid mode. The inauguration ceremony took place in physical mode at SXUK campus on September 17.

Emphasizing the significance of the FDP theme, Mr. Snehasis Sur, President, Press Club, Kolkata in his beginning address welcomed Rev. Fr. Dr. John Felix Raj, S.J., Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor of SXUK; Mr. Mohammed Mohiuddin, Chief of UNICEF, Kolkata; Prof. Ashis Mitra, Registrar, SXUK and all FDP participants from different colleges and universities in India.

Fr. Raj in his inaugural speech, addressed the august audience on the concept of ‘development’ and development practices. He also reflected his views on how the so-called idea of ‘development’, specified by western scholars has failed to meet the needs of Indian citizens as a whole. He praised the organisers to select the topic as a relevant part of media education.

Mr. Mohiuddin delivered a speech on how crisis communication was facilitated in online mode during the COVID-19 pandemic period. He also talked on the shift from Millennium Development Goals (MDS) to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and recognized them as the need of the hour.

In the inaugural session, a model syllabus of Development Journalism curriculum, apt to be introduced at undergraduate and postgraduate levels was inaugurated. A research work on ‘Changing media habits during COVID-19 lockdown: A study’, carried out by faculty members of Department of Mass Communication, SXUK under the guidance of Prof. Sur was also released.

The eight-day FDP witnessed registration of over 60 faculty members from different colleges and universities of West Bengal. Senior academicians and media practitioners specializing in Development Journalism like Dr. Saumendranath Bera, Prof. Ananda Mitra, Dr. Uma Shankar Pandey, Dr. Amit Shovon Ray, Mr. Dilip Ghosh, Mr. Joydeep Dasgupta, Mr. Ujjwal K. Chowdhury, Mrs. Joya Chakraborty, Dr. Mrinal Chatterjee, Dr. Santwan Chattopadhyay, Dr. Saswati Gangopadhyayay, Ms. Bharti Ali, Prof. K G Suresh and Dr. Debojyoti Chanda were the resource persons.

The FDP came to an end with a field visit to Kathalberia, a village adopted by SXUK. The entire team was divided into three groups. Each group visited a state government run primary school, a state government run health centre and the Panchayat office respectively to interact with beneficiaries and have an in-depth understanding of rural governance.

The field visit was followed by an analytical discussion by Mr. Amitava Das, Media Officer, UNICEF Kolkata; Mr. Joydeep Dasgupta, Cyber law and practices expert, Suvojit Bagchi, UNICEF. The session was chaired by Ms. Sucharita Bardhan, UNICEF Communication Expert, Kolkata office. The valedictory session concluded with the distribution of certificates to the participants.

Dr. Soma Sur