Senior journalist Guravappa Balepuni passes away

Senior journalist Guravappa N.T. Balepuni, known for rural reporting, passes away at 62 leaving behind a legacy of impactful journalism.

Senior journalist Guravappa N.T. Balepuni, 62, who was known for reports on Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Institutions, passed away following brief illness in his house ‘Dudime’ (Work) at native Balpeni village of Bantwal taluk in Dakshina Kannada on Sunday. He is survived by his wife and son.

Among his reports include on orange seller-turned-educationalist Harekala Hajabba titled “Kittale buttiyalli aralida akshara kanasu” (Dream of literacy that blossomed in orange basket) that appeared in Hosadinganta Kannada daily. Hajabba won innumerable awards and he was conferred Padmashri.

Born on June 1, 1962, Mr. Balepuni started his 39 year long journalism career from Amruta weekly newspaper. He worked in weekly newspapers namely ‘Chetana’, ‘The Gold’ and ‘Sapta Saara’. He then worked in Suddi Bidugade, Karavali Ale, Kannada Janantaranga, Canara Times, Mangaluru Mitra and Kannada Sanje daily newspapers. He worked in Samyukta Karnataka as special correspondent in Mangaluru. Since June 1998 he was working as special correspondent in Hosadiganta newspaper in Mangaluru.

Among the awards he received includes Padyana Gopalakrishna Memorial award for rural reporting in 2004. He also received Hunger Project’s Sarojini Naidu award for reports on ‘Women and Panchayat Raj’. He received Dakshina Kannada District Rajyotsava award in 2013, B.R. Ambedkar award in 2021 and Karnataka Madhyama Academy award.

Mr. Balepuni was one of the 20 persons featured in the book “Sadaka Sambrama” brought out by Mangalore University in 2022. He wrote a book “Doddavaru .. Ivaru Sanmanyaru” giving pen sketches of Harekala Hajabba and nine other achievers of Dakshina Kannada, which was released few days ago.