P. Sainath

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<h2><a id="75" linktype="page">Dreaming of water, drowning in debt</a></h2><p>This story from Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh first appeared in The Hindu this month 20 years ago. We run it again now as the water diviners and borewell rigs have reappeared with the worsening water crisis<br/></p><h5>July 7, 2023 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5>

Dreaming of water, drowning in debt

<h2><a id="25092" linktype="page">M.S. Swaminathan lives on in farmers’ hearts</a></h2><p>Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, 1925-2023, was India&#39;s foremost agricultural scientist. His contribution extended to agri research, policy and planning where he proposed that we measure growth in agriculture in terms of growth of farmers’ income and not merely increased output<br/></p><h5>October 3, 2023 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5>

M.S. Swaminathan lives on in farmers’ hearts

<h2><a id="24333" linktype="page">In Puruliya: songs of love and freedom</a></h2><p>Folk songs acquired a new meaning during the freedom struggle as the drum-beating messengers and singers also spread the message of rebellion against British rule<br/></p><p></p><h5>August 17, 2023 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

In Puruliya: songs of love and freedom

<h2><a id="24246" linktype="page">&#39;Must I choose between Gandhi and Ambedkar?&#39;</a></h2><p>On August 15, 2023, PARI brings you the story of Shobharam Gehervar who was shot by the British and wounded during the Independence struggle. The 98-year-old is the last Dalit freedom fighter from Rajasthan, a self-declared Gandhian, a staunch admirer of Dr. Ambedkar and part of the revolutionary underground. An excerpt from P. Sainath&#39;s, &#39;The Last Heroes, Footsoldiers of India&#39;s Freedom&#39; published by Penguin in 2022<br/></p><p></p><h5>August 15, 2023 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

'Must I choose between Gandhi and Ambedkar?'

<h2><a id="23766" linktype="page">Beware of contractors bearing gifts</a></h2><p>Teresa Lakra of Tetra village in Jharkhand’s Gumla district, learns the hard way what happens when the sarpanch of a small gram panchayat acts against the wishes of the powerful<br/></p><p></p><h5>July 10, 2023 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

Beware of contractors bearing gifts

<h2><a id="22041" linktype="page">Vidarbha: No rains, but ‘snow’ and water parks</a></h2><p>The gist of this story published in 2005 was carried in Class 11 textbooks for years. In its latest round of rubbing out reality, the NCERT deleted the piece in the &#39;rationalised&#39; text for 2023-2024. Oddly, the Fun &amp; Food village survives in reality<br/></p><p></p><h5>April 11, 2023 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

Vidarbha: No rains, but ‘snow’ and water parks

<h2><a id="22015" linktype="page">The well that Thelu Mahato built</a></h2><p>One of the last fighters from that fast vanishing generation of those who fought for India’s freedom passed away on April 6, 2023 at his home in Puruliya district, West Bengal<br/></p><p></p><h5>April 10, 2023 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

The well that Thelu Mahato built

<h2><a id="19597" linktype="page">Unity in heterogeneity, delight in diversity</a></h2><p>A team of PARI translators celebrates International Translation Day by diving into the diverse world that we inhabit through and beyond our languages<br/></p><p></p><h5>September 30, 2022 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

Unity in heterogeneity, delight in diversity

<h2><a id="17882" linktype="page">When Bhabani Mahato fed the revolution</a></h2><p>Bhabani Mahato strongly disavows any role in the freedom struggle. But on learning her story at her home in West Bengal&#39;s Puruliya district, we conclude otherwise and marvel at her sacrifice for the struggle<br/></p><p></p><h5>April 18, 2022 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

When Bhabani Mahato fed the revolution

<h2><a id="17313" linktype="page">A moment in history dies with Captain Bhau</a></h2><p>&#39;We fought for two things, Independence and Freedom – we achieved Independence&#39;<br/></p><p></p><h5>February 17, 2022 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

A moment in history dies with Captain Bhau

<h2><a id="16695" linktype="page">Patriotic paradox: desi versus foreign liquor</a></h2><p>An official announcement that the ‘intake’ of Indian Made Foreign Liquor went up 23 per cent in Madhya Pradesh in the last decade sparks memories of an intriguing drive through Surguja district in 1994<br/></p><p></p><h5>January 3, 2022 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

Patriotic paradox: desi versus foreign liquor

<h2><a id="16686" linktype="page">Open letter to the Chief Justice of India</a></h2><p>The CJI rightly observes that investigative journalism is vanishing in India. But doesn’t the judiciary need to confront the reality that press freedom is at its lowest ebb in independent India’s history?<br/></p><p></p><h5>December 23, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

Open letter to the Chief Justice of India

<h2><a id="16385" linktype="page">Farmers win on many fronts, media fails on all</a></h2><p>The repeal of the three farm laws came about not because the PM failed to ‘persuade’ some farmers, but because many farmers stood resolute, even as a craven media devalued their struggle and strength<br/></p><p></p><h5>November 20, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

Farmers win on many fronts, media fails on all

<h2><a id="16341" linktype="page">Chased by development in Chikapar</a></h2><p>Little Chikapar in Koraput, Odisha, was probably the only village in the world to have taken on the Army, Air Force and Navy – and lost<br/></p><p></p><h5>November 18, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

Chased by development in Chikapar

<h2><a id="16198" linktype="page">Nahakul Pando’s official loan ceiling</a></h2><p>The 1990s saw a lot of ‘schemes’ aimed at poverty alleviation and carried out mindlessly. Like this one in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja district that cost Nahakul Pando his roof<br/></p><p></p><h5>November 3, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

Nahakul Pando’s official loan ceiling

<h2><a id="16097" linktype="page">High risk on the high seas, with low rewards</a></h2><p>Out on a two-night trip with fishermen off the coast of Ramnad district in Tamil Nadu, who toil, as they put it, &#39;to make someone else a millionaire&#39;<br/></p><p></p><h5>October 26, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

High risk on the high seas, with low rewards

<h2><a id="15857" linktype="page">When push came to shove on Kishanji’s cart</a></h2><p></p><p>Small pushcart vendors everywhere, like this one in Moradabad, get shoved around by bigger vehicles</p><p></p><h5>October 4, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p><p></p>

When push came to shove on Kishanji’s cart

<h2><a id="15823" linktype="page">Every Indian language is your language</a></h2><p>Today, September 30, is International Translation Day. The People’s Archive of Rural India publishes in 13 languages – that is, in more than any other journalism website<br/></p><p></p><h5>September 30, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

Every Indian language is your language

<h2><a id="15748" linktype="page">Hausabai Patil: her heroism passes into history</a></h2><p>The 95-year-old firebrand freedom fighter was with the revolutionary underground in Satara that attacked British establishments in 1943-46. She remained a champion of justice for the poor until the end<br/></p><p></p><h5>September 24, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

Hausabai Patil: her heroism passes into history

<h2><a id="15391" linktype="page">Haat to haat in Malkangiri</a></h2><p>Adivasis in Odisha’s Malkangiri district depend on the haat or rural market to sell what they produce. A few times, though, they might not reach there<br/></p><p></p><h5>August 19, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

Haat to haat in Malkangiri

<h2><a id="15355" linktype="page">Bhagat Singh Jhuggian’s fight for our freedoms</a></h2><p>One of India’s last living freedom fighters, Bhagat Singh Jhuggian of Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district, didn’t stop at battling the British Raj. To this day, he still fights for farmers and workers – at age 93<br/></p><p></p><h5>August 15, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

Bhagat Singh Jhuggian’s fight for our freedoms

<h2><a id="15213" linktype="page">‘But I have an ishtereo, sir’</a></h2><p>Many countryside lorry drivers, like the one steering this vehicle in Koraput, act as freelance cabbies when the malik is not looking<br/></p><p></p><h5>August 5, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

‘But I have an ishtereo, sir’

<h2><a id="15047" linktype="page">Walking the thin line for water in Jhabua</a></h2><p></p><h5>July 21, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

Walking the thin line for water in Jhabua

<h2><a id="14367" linktype="page">UP panchayats: teacher death toll hits 1,621</a></h2><p>Why was the UP government okay with holding the panchayat polls in April, which have now unleashed a catastrophe that keeps growing? PARI brings you an update<br/></p><p></p><h5>May 18, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

UP panchayats: teacher death toll hits 1,621

<h2><a id="14166" linktype="page">It&#39;s been A Hard Day&#39;s Night</a></h2><p>Hundreds of women in eastern Maharashtra&#39;s Gondia district travel from small towns to nearby villages to earn a daily wage. This is a much less studied form of migration – urban to rural<br/></p><p></p><h5>May 1, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

It's been A Hard Day's Night

<h2><a id="14112" linktype="page">We mourn his passing, but celebrate his life – Ganpati Bal Yadav (1920-2021)</a></h2><p>The 101-year-old was one of India’s last living freedom fighters. He was a courier for the 1943 revolutionary underground in the Toofan Sena in Sangli district. He also daily rode a cycle till his last months<br/></p><p></p><h5>April 20, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

We mourn his passing, but celebrate his life – Ganpati Bal Yadav (1920-2021)

<h2><a id="14076" linktype="page">Forbes, India and Pandora’s Pandemic Box</a></h2><p>In a year GDP contracted 7.7 per cent, and as we brace for another round of ‘reverse’ migrations, and as the farmers wait unheeded at the gates of Delhi, Indian billionaires reached record levels of wealth<br/></p><p></p><h5>April 16, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

Forbes, India and Pandora’s Pandemic Box

<h2><a id="13363" linktype="page">Rich farmers, global plots, local stupidity</a></h2><p>With attempts to disperse the protesting farmers at Delhi’s gates failing, theories abound of international conspiracies that justify local repression. Will these acquire extra-terrestrial dimensions next?<br/></p><p></p><h5>February 6, 2021 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

Rich farmers, global plots, local stupidity

<h2><a id="12790" linktype="page">And you thought it’s only about farmers?</a></h2><p>The new farm laws disable the right to legal recourse of all citizens, not just farmers – to an extent unseen since the 1975-77 Emergency. The farmers at Delhi’s gates are fighting for the rights of us all<br/></p><p></p><h5>December 10, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

And you thought it’s only about farmers?

<h2><a id="11543" linktype="page">‘We didn’t bleed him enough’</a></h2><p>A major problem in this Covid crisis is not about how soon we can return to normal. For hundreds of millions of poor Indians, the ‘normal’ was the problem. And the new normal is often the old normal on steroids<br/></p><p></p><h5>August 10, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

‘We didn’t bleed him enough’

<h2><a id="11253" linktype="page">Sankariah: nine decades a revolutionary</a></h2><p>N. Sankariah is one of India’s last living freedom fighters. Speaking to PARI in Chennai, he tells us the astonishing story of his struggles against the British Raj – in public, in prison and underground<br/></p><p></p><h5>July 15, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

Sankariah: nine decades a revolutionary

<h2><a id="10912" linktype="page">The migrant and the moral economy of the elite</a></h2><p>The lockdown has revealed the brutality of India&#39;s chronic disregard for the rights of migrant labourers – millions who don&#39;t need our passing concern, but full justice, says this article, first published in India Today<br/></p><p></p><h5>June 8, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

The migrant and the moral economy of the elite

<h2><a id="10395" linktype="page">What we should do about Covid-19</a></h2><p>The government’s ‘package’ responding to the crisis is a blend of callousness and cluelessness<br/></p><p></p><h5>March 27, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

What we should do about Covid-19

<h2><a id="10351" linktype="page">The great Indian straw trick</a></h2><p>In journeys along rural Indian roads, you sometimes run into the delightfully bizarre<br/></p><p></p><h5>March 19, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/p-sainath/">P. Sainath</a></h5><p></p>

The great Indian straw trick

P. Sainath's writings

పి. సాయినాథ్ రచనలు

பி.சாய்நாத்தின் எழுத்துகள்

ਪੀ. ਸਾਈਨਾਥ ਦੀਆਂ ਲਿਖਤਾਂ 'ਤੇ ਇੱਕ ਝਾਤ

ପି. ସାଇନାଥଙ୍କ ଲେଖା

पी. साईनाथ यांचे निवडक लेख

പി. സായ്നാഥിന്റെ ലേഖനങ്ങൾ

ಪಿ. ಸಾಯಿನಾಥ್‌ ಬರಹಗಳು

सामाजिक न्याय की स्याही और पी. साईनाथ के शब्द

પી. સાંઈનાથના લખાણો

पी. साईनाथ के लिखे कहिनी

पी. साईनाथ के कलम से...

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পি. সাইনাথৰ লেখা আৰু প্ৰতিবেদনসমূহ

<p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">At present, we can only accept donations in Indian rupees by Indian citizens. All donations made to the CounterMedia Trust are eligible for exemption under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Here is a copy of our exemption certificate.</span></span></p>


India is bigger than New Delhi. And people need to know more about the rest of this vast nation.


<p style="line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Younger, media-saturated generations are growing up knowing little about their country, but a lot about the elites of a few metros and towns. For a narrowly-owned, commercially-driven media, the dumbing down of a nation is part of standard operating procedure. The last available data of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS, Delhi) show us that reports from New Delhi account for 66 per cent of news on the front pages of major dailies. The CMS data also found that just about 0.24 per cent of front page news came out of rural India. The TV channels are not much better.</span></span></p><p style="line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">PARI exists to change that.</span></span></p><p style="line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">We are a non-profit organisation. We publish under creative commons, and do not charge readers a subscription fee or put-up advertisements. Nothing is behind a paywall and we are completely free-to-access by anyone. We guard our independence and receive no direct grants from governments and corporations, nor any funding that could dictate our content. So, we are dependent on volunteer labour, donations from individuals, foundations and institutions that see value in independent and free media.</span></span></p><p style="line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:#000000;font-size:12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;">PARI is changing the way Indian journalism reports and documents the rural.India is more than the elite of a few metros and towns. We report on rural lives and livelihoods, languages, communities, migrants and more. We need your help to pull off this most ambitious of Indian journalistic endeavours. The scale of this effort costs money. Donate generously - and spread the word about PARI.</span></span></p><p style="line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-top:0pt;" dir="ltr">&nbsp;</p>

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P. Sainath's writings

The Founder Editor of PARI, P. Sainath's reporting and writing on rural India spans over four decades and examines our democracy, along with issues of justice and equality

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