On the evening of July 24, in a dignified ceremony held at the Dushyant Kumar Memorial Manuscript Museum, Bhopal, one of the country's senior journalists, Rajendra Sharma (New Delhi) was honoured with the Lokjatan Samman 2026. He is a dedicated journalist, committed to social change since completing his studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1979.  He is the author of many books, a columnist for several newspapers, the editor of many important publications and the editor of Lok Lahar where he started his journalism career. Satirist and poet Virendra Jain presided over the programme. Rajendra Sharma was presented with a certificate of honour by Dr Ram Vidrohi, one of the senior-most editors of the state. 

Speaking on this occasion, Rajendra Sharma expressed concern over the current state of the media and expressed regret that in a country where the media had played such a major role in the freedom movement, where every prominent leader used to publish newspapers and many of them were journalists and editors, today the same media is facing the wrath and boycott of the people at Jantar Mantar. The youngest section of Indians is boycotting it, saying that "you have lost our right to be worthy of our expression."  This did not happen today – the media has been a target of condemnation since the historic farmers' agitation 6 years ago. 

Explaining the reasons behind the media reaching this stage of being perceived as anti-public, Rajendra Sharma said that the situation has worsened after the media came under the complete control of big capital and entered into alliances with regressive and communal forces. Since the change of power at the Centre in 2014, it is as if the people in power have turned the media into a weapon against the people. People are taking the mainstream media out of their lives. This is an unfortunate situation for every person associated with the media. However, even in this period of crisis and challenges, many newspapers, especially YouTubers and young journalists, are playing a good role and due to this, they are also becoming victims of repression by the government and the police. But they remain fearlessly steadfast.

In the introductory remarks at the beginning of the ceremony held in the auditorium of Dushyant Kumar Memorial Manuscript Museum, Lokjatan Editor Badal Saroj said that Lokjatan Samman is given every year on July 24, the birthday of its founder-editor Shailendra Shaily (July 24, 1957 – August 7, 2001), to those who are daring to speak and write the truth even in today's difficult times of Indian journalism. So far, prominent journalists like Dr Ram Vidrohi (Gwalior), Kamal Shukla (Bastar-Raipur), Lajja Shankar Hardeniya (Bhopal), Anurag Dwari (Bhopal), Rakesh Achal (Gwalior), Palash Surjan (Bhopal), and martyred journalist Mukesh Chandrakar (Bastar) have been felicitated with this honour.

In the same ceremony, Kamal Shukla, who was received this honour in 2020, was presented with a memento – that year due to the Corona lockdown, the event was held online. The event was conducted by senior writer and cultural activist Manoj Kulkarni. The vote of thanks was given by Sandhya Shelly. Vandana Sharma, in-charge of National Book Centre, New Delhi, was also present on the dais. Many journalists, litterateurs, social workers, enlightened citizens and citizens associated with people's movements were present on the occasion. At the function, gratitude was expressed for the contribution of former manager of Lokjatan S P Sharma, who passed away a month ago.