The PARI Library: 2025 in focus

In the year 2025, the PARI Library added 102 reports to its archive. Our focus was on indigenous rights, hate speeches, labour surveys, climate justice and much more.

It was especially hectic in our Literature section. We added illustrated story books from communities in Meghalaya (Ilari's Jaiñsem, The Tunes of Kongthong), and books illustrated by patachitra artists in Bengal which present ideas in history to young readers (First History Lessons: Sports and Games, Clothes and Attire).

This winter, as the air around us turns increasingly toxic following monsoon flooding and record breaking summer temperatures, reports on climate change in our Library remain as relevant as ever.

India faced extreme weather events on 99 per cent of the days in the first nine months of this year – reported across all 36 states and union territories. That is a total of 270 out of 273 days. These events claimed 4,064 lives, affected 9.47 million hectares of crops, destroyed 99,533 houses, and killed approximately 58,982 animals.

The Library’s new reports shed light on aspects of air pollution, heatwaves, and the differential impact of climate change on the more vulnerable.

We added resources on food security – access, affordability and absorption in the human body, to aid a comprehensive reading of food justice both in the national and global contexts. An estimated 29 per cent of the global population – 2.33 billion people – were moderately or severely food insecure, which meant they did not have regular access to adequate food. We bolstered this reading with reports on agriculture in our country.

Also browse through our reports on the Periodic Labour Force Surveys (PLFS) undertaken by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India. These surveys include data on the un/employment status of workers and the relevant sector (agriculture, secondary or tertiary) they work in. The PLFS reports form an integral part of our section on labour which hosts reports on the evolving dynamics of the workforce in India and the world.

At the heart of our functioning are our volunteers who curate summarising ‘focus and factoids’ for each report we host. We have college students, working as well as retired professionals who volunteer with us to recast dense and expansive topics into lucid readings. They lend us their time and skill, ensuring that our archive remains accessible and diverse in its scholarship.

At present, the PARI Library has nearly 450 volunteers who have worked with us since our inception.

As we end 2025, we are delighted to feature the voices of some of our regular volunteers who speak of their experiences and key takeaways:

Yazhini Sathiamoorthy
Pursuing MTech in Environmental Science and Engineering at IIT Bombay

Every report that I have compiled ‘focus and factoids’ for has allowed me a fresh outlook that stays with me. Few of the reports, for instance Tainted Carpets: Slavery and child labour in India’s hand-made carpet sector or Climate India 2024: An assessment of extreme weather events left me disturbed, and it took me days to go through them. But given what I am studying, working on these reports provided me with opportunities to expose myself better to the subjects at hand.

Whether it is a one-page poster or a 500-page statistical report, PARI Library's structured set of ‘focus and factoids’ take you to the crux of the issue. Unfortunately, many of these reports are not mainstream yet.

Abizar Shaikh
A communications and financial services specialist with over 30 years of experience

I had the time to spare and wanted to do something worthwhile. Volunteering with PARI Library was an excellent opportunity. The work PARI does was a perfect fit, having always been one of my abiding personal interests.

As a reader, I'd like to see improved cataloguing and searchability of themes in the Library.

Jerry Jose
A climate scientist from Kottayam, Kerala

My introduction to PARI was through a lecture by P. Sainath around the time of the release of the website. The effort to archive rural India, which is “a continent inside a subcontinent” was inspiring and one of a kind. Volunteering was my way of remotely contributing to the ever-expanding PARI library.

It is appreciable that the Library features curated reports with accessible ‘focus and factoids’. I find the extended scope very complementary to PARI's journalism. I enjoyed working on reports within my area of expertise and outside of it, where the research was a learning in itself.

In 2026, we hope to bolster our collection of reports on disability and the elderly, layered with summaries and highlights.

As PARI Library enters its 12th year, we will bring more reports and documents which aid our understanding of rural India in all its shades. We look forward to working with our volunteers – old and new – and strengthen our Library!

If the work we do interests you and you would like to contribute to PARI Library and PARI, please fill in the volunteer form here. We welcome freelance and independent writers, reporters, photographers, film makers, translators, editors, illustrators and researchers to work with us.

Cover design: Swadesha Sharma