Raajje Television celebrated its ninth anniversary earlier this week, with a grand ceremony where the First Lady was in attendance.

RaajjeTV is not a castle, it is but a cave with only a limited amount of equipment handled by the smallest team of work-oriented employees. Despite having small resources and not having adequate gear, there is no question that our employees spread themselves thin to provide a citadel of the hottest, freshest news for the people.

There are so many reasons why RaajjeTV has been known as the best broadcaster in the country, in the history of media, throughout the past nine years, the station has been providing the latest news to the people with inadequate equipment and staff. The station’s attempts to improve facilities have been hindered, one way or the other.

RaajjeTV rose to fame within just a few years, all because of the hard work of its employees, both on and off screen. The captivating stories from journalists, interesting video content from cameramen and remarkable editing from the creative department are only some of the pillars that keep the station upright and running.

While it is impossible to name all those that have been a part of the station’s success in the past nine years, this report will attempt to at least acknowledge those currently employed.

These are the people no one sees; however they are certainly the heroes without whom RaajjeTV would not have its place in media. These are the people who implant their talent as the root of the company’s success.

Never falls short to provide their best, Mohamed Anil and Adam Zareer started as cameramen in 2013 and are now two of the most successful and celebrated workers in the station. Two of the brave employees who had to face harassment, Anil and Zareer reached the top having climbed a rocky path. After countless events that they covered while stones and sticks were being thrown at them and being heavily pepper-sprayed, they maintained to do the job they were trusted with on the field.

Further, we would have no content to show without the other resilient and brave cameramen at the forefronts of every life-risking incident and action-packed event who are ready to bring video footage from wherever, whether it be after having to scale a building, stand on wafer-thin ice or even gamble with their lives hanging by the thread. Ahmed Saajid, Hussain Fazeen Mohamed, Ahmed Nadheem, Zaid Abdulla, Mohamed Ali and Yoosuf Sofwan Rasheed; these men will do anything and everything to get the job done despite the cuts and scrapes covering their limbs.

Likewise, the people would have no content to watch if it wasn’t for the reliable technical team on whom the newsroom heavily depends to bring well-drafted reports to the people. Najah Ahmed, Adam Sufiyan, Ahmed Siraj, Mohamed Sinah and Moosa Shifaz play a dutiful role in making sure our journalists look good.

Tasked with ensuring nothing goes wrong with the office network, the station’s control room as well as graphics, editing and enhancing the station’s content among so many other responsibilities, this is the team behind the bone-chilling, soul-stirring reports and programmes that captivate viewers from all corners of the nation.

Having the entire on-air on the palm of your hand certainly is no easy feat. Aminath Mohamed, Amathulla Adam, Aishath Shaan, Aishath Roona Shiyam, Aminath Bariza as well as Hassan Thoriq have one of the most important jobs in the entire station. They are required to be alert and extra watchful to ensure that the station’s content reaches the people with no hiccups. The control room also operates on a strict-clock, and operators have their sleeves rolled to make sure news anchors and program presenters’ clock in on time. These on-air operators have gone through every challenging period journalists themselves have gone through, including during the State of Emergency imposed by former president Abdulla Yameen in 2018 which saw some of the toughest times for media fighting for justice, covering risky protests and even being subject to police brutality.

A round-the-clock station also needs excellent administrative maintenance. As such, a team of diligent workers is behind answering queries from the public, processing all the documents, safe-keeping important paperwork, ensuring the entire work-force follows company regulations as well as keeping an eye on every single employee. Hands down, Mariyam Uhaamath, Mariyam Laisha, Khadheeja Suma, Aishath Zahwa and Aishath Sharufa deserve recognition for diligence in carrying out their responsibilities. These are the women who overwork themselves and almost never fall back in their work.

Finally, the perseverance of RaajjeTV’s executive board, Aminath Reesha, without whom corporate services would be in a muddle, and Naazmee Saeed, who play a significant part in working towards RaajjeTV’s success, is noteworthy. Both Reesha and Naazmee have been through thick and thin, having been with RaajjeTV from the very beginning. Reesha can only be described as the mother of RaajjeTV while Naazmee- who spent the first two years of her career as an on-air operator- through her loyalty and diligence is now the station’s deputy chief operating officer. Another important figure at RaajjeTV since the early days, Ismail Jinah makes sure that all things technical are in order. In charge of the company’s Human Resources while the other handles programmes, Rifqa Abdul Wahhab and Amir Saleem’s work are commendable as well.

Led by upbeat leaders Abdulla Naseer Ibrahim, Zihnath Hassan and Aishath Shaany, the newsroom has been trained in a way that journalists are not afraid of taking risks or put in extra work to outperform themselves. While these journalists are also seen on camera, their work behind the scenes must not be overlooked.

Known as a one-man-army, Athoof Athif joined the station very recently and has managed to handle all the affairs of one entire department within the short span of five months he has worked for the station. The hard-working employee is yet to appear on television as a presenter, however, he carries a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders, being the only one handling the sports department. He was declared by the company’s Managing Director as the true-deserver of a medal following an almost perfect coverage of the recent South Asian Games 2019 held in Nepal. This report would be incomplete without mentioning the rest of the newsroom, where there are around 15 journalists, bringing you the latest updates 24/7, both local and international. Their work behind the scenes deserves praise; a journalist at RaajjeTV can write, do a video report and air a story in 10 minutes max!

Some of the most commendable employees in different departments of the station have reached where they stand now, after passing a challenging training period. These are the employees who operate on little-to-no-sleep at all to ensure the channel remains Number One. RaajjeTV’s small team is trained to accept challenges, punctuality and the nature of honest reporting and several other characteristics, all of which make up a disciplined individual. And for this, we have to give credit to two of the biggest unsung heroes at RaajjeTV; our MD Ahmed Saleem and Chairman Akram Kamaaludheen. Their connection to employees can be seen in the way the station has handled some cases such as attacks, fines and harassment. These two are always pushing us to do our best.

Having worked for the station for over six years in several departments, I can proudly admit that there is no better team or place that provides a stepping stone for success.