Vinod Dua, pioneer of television journalism in India, dies

New Delhi, Dec 4, 2021: Vinod Dua, one of the pioneers of television journalism in India, died December 4 after a prolonged illness. He was 67.

The death came in a Delhi hospital where he had been admitted post Covid-19 complication.

Dua had spent most of his journalistic career with Doordarshan, the state-owned television network, and NDTV, the first private channel in India. He had done shows on other TV channels and online portals.

Taking to social media, his daughter Mallika Dua wrote: “Our irreverent, fearless and extraordinary father, Vinod Dua has passed away. He lived an inimitable life, rising from the refugee colonies of Delhi to the peak of journalistic excellence for over 42 years, always, always speaking truth to power. He is now with our mom, his beloved wife Chinna in heaven where they will continue to sing, cook, travel and drive each other up the wall.”

She also said the cremation would take place at noon on December 5 at Lodhi crematorium.

Dua and his wife Padmavati ‘Chinna’ Dua had contracted Covid during the second phase of the pandemic. Both had to be hospitalized in a Gurugram hospital. Chinna Dua succumbed to Covid-19 in June after a prolonged battle with the disease.

Vinod Dua was born on March 11, 1954, in a Delhi refugee colony. His parents were Saraiki Hindus migrated from Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, after the independence of India in 1947.

In his school and college days, he had participated singing and debate events. He had also done theaters until the mid-1980s. Sutradhar Puppet of Sri Ram Center for Art and Culture performed two plays that were written by Vinod for the children. He was a member of a street theater group, Theatre Union, which used to create and perform plays against the social issues like dowry.

In 1996, he became the first electronic media journalist to be bestowed with the esteemed Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award.

In 2008, he was awarded the Padma Shri for Journalism, the fourth civilian award in India. In June 2017, for his lifetime achievement in the field of journalism, Mumbai Press Club awarded him RedInk Award, which was presented to him by Devendra Fadnavis, former Chief Minister of Maharashtra.

Vinod Dua graduated with a degree in English literature from Hans Raj College and obtained his master’s degree in literature, both from the University of Delhi. In November 1974, Vinod made his first television appearance in Yuva Manch, a Hindi-language youth program which was aired on Doordarshan (formerly called as Delhi television).

Yuv Jan, a youth show for the youth of Raipur, Muzaffarpur, and Jaipur for Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE), was anchored by Vinod in 1975. The same year, he began anchoring Jawan Tarang, a program for youth which was telecast on the newly commissioned Amritsar TV. He continued his job until 1980.

In 1981, he started anchoring Aap Ke Liye, a Sunday morning family magazine, which he kept doing until 1984. Vinod, along with Prannoy Roy, co-anchored the election analysis on Doordarshan in 1984. This gave his career a boost, as it bagged him the chance to anchor election analysis program for several other television channels.

In 1985, he anchored Janvani (People’s Voice), a show where common people were given the opportunity to directly question the ministers. He Vinod joined TV Today, a venture of India Today Group, as its chief producer in 1987.

To produce the shows based on current affairs, budget analysis, and documentary films, he launched his production company, The Communication Group, in 1988. Vinod anchored the show Chakravyuha, the channel Zee TV, in 1992. Between 1992 and 1996, he was the producer of a weekly current affairs magazine, Parakh, which was telecast on Doordarshan.

He was linked to the Sahara TV from the year 2000 to 2003, for which he used to anchor Pratidin.

Vinod used to host the NDTV India’s program, Zaika India Ka, for which he travelled across the cities; stopped by the highways, roads; tasted several dishes from the roadside dhabas.

He started anchoring Jan Gan Man Ki Baat for The Wire Hindi. The show was a 10-minute current affairs program which telecast on The Wire’s website where he often took a critical of the government led Narendra Modi, but with the required facts and numbers.