95. Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity, 2025 Jury Appreciation Citation
In November 2025, 2023 PARI-MMF Fellow and regular PARI contributor Ashwini Kumar Shukla received a Jury Appreciation Citation in the Web (Features) category for his story 'This is hard work; the money is not enough'. The jury appreciated the story for "its nuanced engagement with gender concerns and for widening the space for more inclusive media narratives."
94. Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity, 2025
In November 2025, PARI Senior Assistant Editor Ritu Sharma, and PARI Senior Assistant Editor Swadesha Sharma won a Laadli Media Award in the Web (Features) category for their story State reassures protesting ASHAs...once again. It was "for vividly documenting the courage, determination, and solidarity of ASHA workers while exposing the state's continued inaction and apathy towards them."
93. Ramoji Excellence Awards in Journalism 2025
In November 2025, Jaideep Hardikar, PARI Roving Reporter won the inaugural Award of Excellence in Journalism at the Ramoji Excellence Awards 2025 instituted by the Ramoji group, publishers of Eenadu group of publications, in memory of their founder the late Ramoji Rao. It is in recognition of "his outstanding contribution to meaningful, responsible, and impactful journalism," and for work that inspires "social awareness, compassion and change."
Jaideep's impressive body of work includes his book, Ramrao: The story of India's farm crisis which looks at the agrarian crisis through the life of a single farmer who attempted suicide in 2014. It is, says P. Sainath, "the best and most powerful book on the subject. An exemplar of how such reporting from the field is to be done."
92. 7th Independent and Experimental Short Film Festival of Kerala
In November 2025, Punishing the Professor, a documentary by PARI photographer and visual storyteller, Aayna was selected for screening at 7th Independent and Experimental Short Film Festival of Kerala.
91. 5th Kashmir World Film Festival, Srinagar
In November 2025, Punishing the Professor, a documentary by PARI photographer and visual storyteller, Aayna was selected for screening at the 5th Kashmir World Film Festival in Srinagar.
90. Arodhum Journalism Fellowship
In September 2025, PARI’s Aayna was awarded an Arodhum Journalism Fellowship by Arodhum India, a Karnataka-based non-profit working in the field of education and focused on students from rural and marginalised communities from all over India. Aayna will hold the fellowship for a period of five years to “cover key issues that impact rural people, particularly those from the marginalised and deprived sections of society.” Arodhum says they were particularly impressed by Aayna’s documentary: Punishing the Professor.
88. 6th Mumba International Film Festival, Pune
In September 2025, two documentary films by Urja (Senior Assistant Editor - Video, PARI) were chosen to be screened at the 6th Mumba International Film Festival, Pune. They were A fight to save orans (reported with Priti David) and Special teachers for special children (reported with Medha Kale).
87. 17th International Documentary & Short Film Festival of Kerala
In August 2025, PARI's Aayna had her film Dholak Engineers selected by the 17th International Documentary & Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) for screening in the 'Focus Short Documentary' category.
85. Prem Bhatia Journalism Award for Excellence in Environmental Journalism, 2025
In August 2025, Priti David, Executive Editor of PARI, received a special commendation from Rami Chhabra and Sujata Madhok - jury members of the Prem Bhatia Journalism Award for Excellence in Environmental Journalism. The commendation was for her "outstanding report on the impact of solar and windmill renewable energy projects on Rajasthan’s desert ecology and animal husbandry, besides reports from the Kuno National Park on how tribals and dalits of 24 villages were removed from their lands 23 years ago to make way for lions that never arrived."
84. The Dayanita Singh-PARI Documentary Photography Award, 2025
In June 2025, Aayna, a visual storyteller and photographer working for PARI, was awarded the second Dayanita Singh-PARI Documentary Photography Award.
83. Yashwantrao Chavan State Level Youth Award for Journalism 2025
In May 2025, PARI Senior Reporter Jyoti was awarded the 2025 Yashwantrao Chavan State Level Youth Award for Journalism in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. The awards are presented every year to talented youths with achievements in areas of social, sports, entrepreneurship, theatre arts, literature, journalism and innovation.
82. 2025 Ashish Yechury Award for Photojournalism
In May 2025, PARI's Palani Kumar was awarded the Asian College of Journalism Ashish Yechury Award for Photojournalism. The award seeks to recognise and reward the best news storytelling efforts through photography. Palani received this award for his story ‘There is no such thing as professional grief’, which looks at the lives of individuals engaged in manual scavenging.
81. Marico Innovation Foundation’s Indian Innovation Icons 2025
In March 2025, PARI was awarded Marico Innovation Foundation's Indian Innovation Icons award for 2025 in the 'social' category. The award recognises PARI as a unique digital platform preserving and amplifying rural India’s diverse voices.
80. T.M. Krishna-PARI prize
In December 2024, Labani Jangi won the first edition of the T.M. Krishna-PARI prize, honouring individuals who bridge the worlds of art and journalism. The Rs. 1 lakh prize has been instituted by eminent Carnatic music exponent and activist T.M Krishna. Labani, the very first recipient of it, has been associated with PARI from 2020, when she was a PARI Fellow. Her artworks for many poems, articles, as well as for the special women’s health series, a part of a Population Foundation of India initiative, helped enrich and redefine multimedia storytelling for PARI.
79. Arodhum Journalism Fellowship
In December 2024, PARI’s Jyoti Shinoli has been awarded the Arodhum Journalism Fellowship by Arodhum International, a Karnataka-based non-profit working in the field of education and focused on students from rural and marginalised communities from all over India. Jyoti will hold the fellowship for a period of five years to “cover key issues that impact rural people, particularly those from the marginalised and deprived sections of society.” Arodhum says they were particularly impressed by Jyoti’s story: In Nagar: denying schooling to the deprived
78. Takshila-PARI Senior Fellowship
In December 2024, Umesh Kumar Ray was awarded the Takshila-PARI Senior Fellowship starting January 2025. Umesh, who has done some great stories in PARI will work on Livelihoods, Learning and Land Loss Among Tribals of Bihar. After the bifurcation of Bihar in 2000, the focus on Adivasis has always been centred around Jharkhand, while the much smaller and more vulnerable groups in Bihar get little attention. This is a new fellowship set up by the Takshila Educational Society (TES) and Umesh is the first recipient.
77. Rainbow Lit Fest, Feature of the Year 2024
In December 2024, Smitha Tumuluru was awarded the 2024 Feature of the Year award by the Rainbow Lit Fest – Queer & Inclusive, for her story 'Everyone accepts me the way I am'. The story is about Thulasi a trans gender person from the Irular community.
76. Best Environmental Journalism Film Award 2024
In November 2024, Urja won the Best Environmental Journalism Film Award presented by All Living Things Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF). This was for her film Camels of the Sea.
75. The Statesman Awards for Rural Reporting 2023
In September 2024, Aparna Karthikeyan was presented with the first prize under The Statesman Awards for Rural Reporting 2023 for her reportage on the lives of traditional cultivators in Tamil Nadu and their crops. This is for her series Let Them Eat Rice.
74. Laadli Media Awards, 2024 Jury Appreciation Citation
In September 2024, Aakanksha received the Jury Appreciation Citation in the Web - Feature category for English language by the jury of the 14th Laadli Media and Advertising Awards for Gender Sensitivity 2024. This is for her story Love and a place of one's own in the metropolis.
73. Dr. Guy Poitevin Memorial Prize
In August 2024, PARI's Managing Editor Namita Waikar and the Grindmill Songs Project was awarded the first Dr. Guy Poitevin Memorial Prize. The award recognises PARI's dissemination of Dr. Poitevin's work in the area of social work, and our engagement with rural India through projects like the Grindmill Songs Project and its exhibitions in Gwangju, Berlin and London.
72. Covering Climate Now Journalism Award
In July 2024, Parth M.N. was awarded the 2024 Covering Climate Now Journalism Award for his story In Vidarbha: agrarian distress, playing on the mind. In it he reports on the health implications of climate change and extreme weather, including effects on mental health.
71. Vikas Samvad Award
In April 2024, Parth M.N. received an award on child rights reporting from Vikas Samvad for his story on children gone missing in Madhya Pradesh.
70. Narla Venkateswara Rao Puraskar
On February 18, 2024, PARI Founder Editor, P. Sainath was awarded the Narla Venkateswara Rao Puraskar by the B.R. Ambedkar Joshua Phule Periyar Literature Foundation. The award is instituted in the memory of Rao who was an eminent journalist and writer.
69. Uzhavar Award for Best Agricultural Journalist
In January 2024, Aparna Karthikeyan won the Uzhavar Award, instituted by the Uzhavan Foundation. This award, 'Best Agricultural Journalist' is for her consistent coverage of farmers, particularly women farmers.
68. Ricardo Ortega Memorial Prize for Broadcast Media 2023
In December 2023, Shalini Singh won the SILVER in the Ricardo Ortega Memorial Prize for Broadcast Media 2023, given by the UN Correspondents (UNCA) for the Climate Change stories done for PARI in 2019-2020.
67. Sanjoy Ghose Media Awards 2023
In November 2023, Jigyasa Mishra was announced co-winner of the Sanjoy Ghose Media Awards 2023 in the category Recognizing Excellence in Rural Reporting and Empowering Young Voices. This award is for her story “In Jhunjhunun, brides must be bought.”
66. Laadli Media Awards 2023, Jury Appreciation Citation
In October 2023, PARI-MMF Fellow Sanket Jain received a Jury Appreciation Citation at the Laadli Media Awards 2023 for his story on the impact of climate change on the mental health of athletes.
65. Laadli Media Awards 2023, Jury Appreciation Citation
In October 2023, PARI Fellow Amrutha Kosuru received a Jury Appreciation Citation at the Laadli Media Awards, 2023 for her story on the widows of manual scavengers.
64. Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards, 2023
In September 2023, Sanket Jain won Emerging Journalist of the Year Award at Covering Climate Now for his three-part series covering the impact of climate on mental health.
62. Chinta Ravi Memorial Award, 2023
In July 2023, PARI Founder Editor P. Sainath received the Chinta Ravi Memorial Award in Kozhikode, Kerala.
The citation read: 'The Chinta Ravindran Foundation is proud to present its 4th Chinta Ravi Memorial award to Dr. P. Sainath, the founder of the People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), the lone pan-Indian multimedia network wholly dedicated to rural India that serves as ‘an archive and living journal of the history of rural India’ and tries to capture ‘the everyday lives of everyday people...’
60. Asian College of Journalism awards, 2023
In May 2023, Parth M.N. received a special mention at Asian College of Journalism awards in the social impact journalism category. He was honoured for the series of stories he did from UP on access to public health.
58. Imagining the Nation State grant, 2022
In November 2020, PARI Photographer Palani Kumar received the Imagining the Nation State grant from the Chennai Photo Biennale Foundation for his socially responsible photography.
57. Martin Adler prize at the Rory Peck Awards, 2022
In November 2022, Parth M.N. was the runner up at the Martin Adler prize at the Rory Peck Awards in London. The award goes to one independent journalist in the world. And this was the second time in a row that Parth was the runner up for this award.
56. Earth Journalism Network Asia-Pacific Fellowship, 2022
On August 24 2022, Sanket Jain was awarded the Earth Journalism Network Asia-Pacific Fellowship for a three-part series on climate change and mental health in rural Maharashtra.
55. Zee Tamil’s ‘Tamizha Tamizha Award’, 2022
In June 2022, Palani Kumar received major recognition from Zee Tamil’s ‘Tamizha Tamizha Award’. These awards are presented to people whose work uplifts the pride and prestige of Tamil Nadu state and its language.
53. The Dayanita Singh-PARI Documentary Photography Award for Palani Kumar, 2022
Hasselblad Award-winning photographer Dayanita Singh has collaborated with PARI to institute the Dayanita Singh-PARI Documentary Photography Award
52. P.V. Sukhatme Gold Medal, 2022
PARI Founder Editor P. Sainath was awarded the P. V. Sukhatme Gold Medal by the Indian Social Science Academy (ISSA) at the 45th Social Science Congress in Vandalur, Chennai, on March 28, 2022. The ISSA, in its citation, notes that PARI “serves to build bridges between the knowledge of the social sciences, the humanities and the lay public… very importantly, PARI publishes in 13 Indian languages and is free to access, without any subscription fee.”
51. Mrinalini Mukherjee Foundation grant, 2022
Sanket Jain was the recipient of a Mrinalini Mukherjee Foundation grant in March 2022 towards supporting his PARI Senior Fellowship. The Foundation was impressed by his ongoing work on rural artisans and their vanishing livelihoods. In particular, the Foundation mentioned his story on toran makers .
50. Alfred Friendly Fellowship, 2021-22
Parth M. N. was awarded the Alfred Friendly Fellowship in June 2021 to visit and train in the United States from April 2022. The programme includes a three week-training at the Missouri School of Journalism, University of Missouri, Columbia. After which he will work two and a half months at the Los Angeles Times.
49. Centre for Pastoralism grant, 2022
PARI Senior Fellow and photographer Ritayan Mukherjee was awarded a travel grant by the Centre for Pastoralism, Bhuj, Gujarat in February 2022. This will enable him to continue his ongoing work with and on nomadic pastoralist communities in India.
48. Thakur Foundation Fellowship, 2021
Parth M.N. was awarded a Thakur Foundation Fellowship in January 2022 to cover issues of access to healthcare and the state of civil liberties in India, for PARI.
47. Ramnath Goenka Award, 2021
Team PARI won the Ramnath Goenka Award in the Environment, Science and Technology Reporting category in December 2021. This was for PARI’s ongoing series on Climate Change through the voices and lived experience “of farmers, labourers, fishermen, forest dwellers, seaweed harvesters, nomadic pastoralists and honey tappers, among others.” The award notes that the series contains “more than 20 stories, covering the length and breadth of India” by a 14-member PARI Team who “covered forests, seas, river basins, coral islands, deserts, arid and semi-arid zones, rural and urban areas (and) made the crisis relatable to the reader.”
46. Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity, 2021
PARI Reporter Jyoti Shinoli won a Laadli Media Award in November 2021 (given by Population First) for her story 'My kaat [uterus] keeps coming out', published on June 17, 2020.
45. Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity, 2021
PARI Contributor Sanskriti Talwar won a Laadli Media Award in November 2021 for One nation, no ration card, published on October 20, 2020.
44. Press Institute of India-ICRC Award, 2021
PARI Reporter Jigyasa Mishra won a Special Mention at the Press Institute of India-International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Awards in November 2021, for her story UP panchayats: for whom the polls toll, published on May 10, 2021. The theme of this 15th edition of the PII-ICRC awards was 'Superheroes: Battling at the Frontline in the Time of Crisis'.
43. Martin Adler Prize (Rory Peck Awards), 2021
PARI Fellow (2017) Parth M.N. received the runner-up award of the Martin Adler Prize at the Rory Peck Awards in London in November 2021. The Rory Peck Trust honours one freelancer in the world every year, and Parth’s ongoing work in PARI made the final shortlist of three journalists.
42. Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award, 2021
PARI Fellow (2017) Parth M.N. made the shortlist (for a body of work that is entirely in PARI) of 10 journalists from over 250 contenders across 55 countries for the Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award in November 2021.
41. Thakur Foundation Fellowship, 2021
Jigyasa Mishra was awarded a Thakur Foundation Fellowship in October 2021 to report on public health and civil liberties, and related topics, for PARI. This is an extension of the same fellowship awarded to her in August 2020.
40. PRCI's Chanakya Awards for Journalism, 2021
PARI’s former Executive Editor Sharmila Joshi won the Best Story on Environment Awareness Award at the Public Relations Council of India's Chanakya Awards for Journalism in September 2021, for her story Churu: Blowing hot, blowing cold – mainly hot, published on June 2, 2020.
38. PRCI's Chanakya Awards for Journalism, 2021
PARI Reporter Jigyasa Mishra won the Best Story on Water Management Award at the Public Relations Council of India's Chanakya Awards for Journalism in September 2021, for her story Footprints of protest in the sands of a mine, published on June 6, 2020.
37. The Fukuoka Grand Prize, 2021
PARI's Founder Editor P. Sainath won the Fukuoka Grand Prize (Japan) in September 2021 for his outstanding journalism and as the founder of PARI. The award is conferred every year to honour individuals who have made contributions to the fields of Asian studies, Asian art and Asian culture. Read more
36. Pulitzer Center grant for ‘Societal Fallouts of Covid-19’ series, 2021
PARI Fellow (2017) Parth M.N. won a Pulitzer Center grant in September 2021 for a series of stories from the Marathwada region. The 20-part series in PARI examined the impact of the pandemic-lockdowns on some of the most marginalised sections of society.
35. Asian College of Journalism Awards, 2021
The PARI series on women’s health received a Special Mention in the Investigative Journalism category (of the Asian College of Journalism Awards, Chennai) in June 2021 for stories published in the year 2020. The award goes to Anubha Bhonsle, Amruta Byatnal, Jigyasa Mishra, Jyoti Shinoli, Kavitha Muralidharan, Medha Kale, Pallavi Prasad, Priti David, and Sanskriti Talwar for their stories from February to November 2020.
34. Azim Premji University research grant, 2021
Aparna Karthikeyan was awarded a research grant in April 2021 by Azim Premji University. This enables her ongoing and hugely successful series in PARI since September 2021 – looking at seven groups of farmers in Tamil Nadu through the universe of their crops.
33. Bodhivruksha Award, Spoortidhamma, 2021
PARI's Founder Editor P. Sainath won the Bodhivruksha Award for his journalism work and as the founder of PARI. The award is conferred every year on persons who have dedicated their lives to enabling and empowering socially excluded communities through their meaningful interventions. The award to Sainath was conferred on April 6, 2021.
32. WAN-IFRA’s South Asian Digital Media Awards, 2020
The PARI Team won the silver prize of WAN-IFRA’s South Asian Digital Media Awards, 2020. PARI bagged the Silver in the category 'Best Special Project for Covid-19' in the awards announced on December 3, 2020. Beginning from the last week of March 2020, PARI published (by the end of December 2021) nearly 200 landmark stories (besides numerous reports in the PARI Library) related to impact of the lockdown on the livelihoods and daily lives of the most marginalised segments of India. Read more
31. Thakur Foundation Fellowship, August 2020
Kavitha Muralidharan was awarded a Thakur Foundation Fellowship in August 2020 to produce high quality content and reports on Public Health and Civil Liberties and related topics for PARI.
30. Press Institute of India-ICRC Award, 2020
PARI Reporter Jigyasa Mishra won a Press Institute of India-International Committee of the Red Cross Award for her story Footprints of protest in the sands of a mine, published on June 6, 2020, in the category Best Article on a Humanitarian Subject. Read more
29. Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity, 2020
PARI Reporter Jyoti Shinoli won a Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity (given by Population First, Mumbai), 2020, for her story No crime, unending punishment, published on August 10, 2018. Read more
28. Ananda Vikatan - Top Ten Humans of 2019
PARI Photographer Palani Kumar was recognised as one of theTop Ten Humans of 2019 by leading Tamil publication Ananda Vikatan in January 2020 for his body of work, particularly that visibilising the work of manual scavengers in an otherwise desensitised world.
27. Prem Bhatia Award for Journalism, 2020
The PARI Team won the Prem Bhatia Award for Journalism on Environment and Development Issues (given by the Prem Bhatia Memorial Trust, New Delhi) “for its extensive field reports, including climate change effects and the impact of the pandemic on rural India.” Read more
23. Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, 2019
PARI Fellow (2017) Yashaswini Raghunandan’s film That Cloud Never Left was selected for the India Gold category at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in October 2019.
22. FILAF Film Festival, 2019
PARI Fellow (2017) Yashaswini Raghunandan won the Gold Filaf at the Festival International du Livre d'Art et du Film (FILAF Film Festival) in France in 2019 for her film That Cloud Never Left.
21. Tutti I Premi Del Pesaro Film Fest, 2019
PARI Fellow (2017) Yashaswini Raghunandan received a Special Mention for her film That Cloud Never Left at the Tutti i Premi Del Pesaro Film Fest 2019, Italy.
20. Best Experimental Documentary Film Award, 2019
PARI Fellow (2017) Yashaswini Raghunandan’s film That Cloud Never Left won the award for Best Experimental Documentary Film at the Sharjah Film Platform in December 2019.
19. Kasseler Dok Film Festival, 2019
PARI Fellow (2017) Yashaswini Raghunandan’s film That Cloud Never Left was awarded a Special Mention at the Kasseler Dok Film Festival in Kassel, Germany, in November 2019.
18. International Film Festival Rotterdam, 2019
PARI Fellow (2017) Yashaswini Raghunandan’s film That Cloud Never Left was premiered at the prestigious International Film Festival Rotterdam (in The Netherlands) in January 2019.
12. South Asian Short Film Festival, Kolkata, 2018
Fifteen PARI videos/ films were selected for SASFF-2018: 13 films in the Competition: Documentary section and 2 in the Official Panorama Viewing category. (See the full list of these videos and films at the end of this page, as well as the list of five PARI films/videos selected in the 2019 Competition: Documentary section of SASFF.)
11. Parigi Hanumantha Rao Journalism Award, 2018
PARI Fellow (2017) Rahul M. received the Parigi Hanumantha Rao Journalism Award for 2017-2018 (given by the Parigi Hanumantha Rao Foundation, Andhra Pradesh) for his stories published in PARI.
7. C-Shell Media and Literary Awards, 2017
The C-Shell Journalism Prize 2017 (Dubai) for “extraordinary and in-depth reporting of rural India and the unique achievement that is PARI.”
2. Praful Bidwai Memorial Prize, 2016
The first Praful Bidwai Memorial Prize (given by the Praful Bidwai Memorial Committee, New Delhi) to PARI and Founder Editor P. Sainath for “his reportage and commentary on agrarian distress and the source of information and inspiration that is PARI.” Read more
1. Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity, 2015
PARI Fellow (2015) Purusottam Thakur received the Laadli Media Award 2014-15 (given by Population First, Mumbai) in the Best Investigative Story category for the story Making history, heading for a hundred, published on March 20, 2015.