New Delhi, Aug 4 - Encouraged by receiving a UN literacy award, Khabar Lahariya, a newspaper produced entirely by women in rural India, is now looking forward to spreading its wings to more places in the country.

The weekly paper, which is distributed to more than 20,000 readers in Uttar Pradesh, is created and marketed by newly literate 'low caste' women who are training as journalists in Chitrakoot and Banda districts of the state.

In recognising its unique effort, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's (Unesco) King Sejong Literacy Prize was given to the paper, started by Nirantar -- a centre for gender and education based in New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

Thrilled with the recognition, Shalini Joshi of Nirantar said: 'This award - about which we came to know from Unesco only last evening - is an affirmation of our work. It is an affirmation of our credibility.'

'We are now planning to expand Khabar Lahariya to three districts in Bihar. The idea of empowering rural women is now spreading,' Joshi told IANS.

Started in 2002, Khabar Lahariya has 15 women, trained as journalists by Nirantar, working in it.