PARI Library Team

Editor

Swadesha Sharma

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The year 2024 marks a milestone at the PARI <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/">Library</a> – we curated and archived a record number of resources this year. These included acts and laws, books, conventions, essays, anthologies, glossaries, government reports, pamphlets, surveys and articles.Meanwhile there were other, more sobering records being broken too – 2024 is set to be the hottest year on record, overtaking 2023 which was the previous hottest year on record. The changing climate has impacted <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/state-of-the-worlds-migratory-species-2024/">migratory species</a>, one in five of which are now threatened with extinction. And the <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/whats-in-a-name-the-different-terms-for-wetlands-in-india/">wetlands of India</a> themselves, all the spang, jheel, sarovar, talav, taal, kola, bil and cheruvu are under threat.The links between pollution and heat have been well documented, and air pollution due to <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/world-air-quality-report-2023/">particulate matter</a> was especially bad in South Asia. The concentration in India was 54.4 micrograms per cubic metre, 11 times the limit outlined by the World Health Organization. New Delhi, where the concentration hovered around 102.1 micrograms per cubic metre, fared even worse prompting a <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/riding-through-the-smog-a-roznamcha-of-ride-sourcing-bike-taxis/">comic</a> about the experiences of a gig worker for a ride-sourcing service.

Design courtesy: Dipanjali Singh

With two consecutive years breaking temperature records, the Paris Agreement is that much closer to being breached. But the natural environment wasn’t the only one experiencing a temperature rise. The political climate in the country also went through its own warming leading up to the 2024 General Elections which formed the country’s 18th Lok Sabha.<a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/details-of-electoral-bonds-submitted-by-sbi-part--i-and-ii/">Electoral bonds</a>, introduced by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, in the year 2018 were deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on February 15, 2024. A month later, the State Bank of India and the Election Commission released details about the purchase and encashment of these bonds.Future Gaming And Hotel Services (PR and Private Limited), Megha Engineering And Infrastructures Limited and Qwik Supply Chain Private Limited were the top three donors to political parties through electoral bonds. <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/details-of-electoral-bonds-as-received-in-digitised-form-from-supreme-court-registry/">On the receiving end</a>, the Bharatiya Janata Party (Rs. 6,060 crores), the All India Trinamool Congress (Rs. 1,609 crores) and the Indian National Congress (Rs. 1,422 crores) were the biggest beneficiaries.

A comparison of <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/income-and-wealth-inequality-in-india-1922-2023-the-rise-of-the-billionaire-raj/">wealth distribution in India</a> in 1922 and 2022 showed that the richest one per cent in India had a greater share of the total national income in 2022 than they had in 1922. Almost 60 per cent of the national income in 2022 went to the richest 10 per cent in the country. In contrast, the average individual in rural India spent only about Rs. 3,773 per month on goods and services, as recorded by the <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/survey-on-household-consumption-expenditure-2022-23/">2022-23 Survey of Household Consumption Expenditure</a>. And the average real earnings of workers saw <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/india-employment-report-2024-youth-employment-education-and-skills/">no improvement</a> between 2019 and 2022.In 2024, the Digital India programme which aims to “transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy” entered its 10th year. Ironically, in 2024, we  also ranked first in the world for <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/shrinking-democracy-growing-violence-internet-shutdowns-in-2023/">internet shutdowns</a> – sixth year in a row.

Gender injustice and inequality in India showed no change as the damning <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/global-gender-gap-report-2024/">Global Gender Gap Report</a> ranked the country at 129, two places lower (and worse) than the previous year. It marks Indian women’s worsening position in the educational and political spheres. We also did badly on the <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/findings-from-the-2024-sdg-gender-index/">SDG Gender Index</a>, ranking 91 out of 139 countries in gender equality. Speaking of gender, as many as <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/analysis-of-sitting-mpsmlas-with-declared-cases-related-to-crimes-against-women-2024/">135 sitting</a> Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) had been charged with cases of crimes against women – outraging a woman’s modesty, abduction with intent of marriage, rape, repeated rape, domestic abuse, purchasing minor for prostitution, and abusing the modesty of a woman.It’s never too late to brush up on your knowledge of law. The <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/resource/law-and-everyday-life/">Law and Everyday Life</a>, a toolkit published this year by Justice Adda, aimed to aid people in doing just that.

In addition to these, we archived resources on <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/rooms/health/">health</a>, <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/rooms/language/">languages</a>, <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/rooms/gender/">gender</a>, <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/library/rooms/literature/">literature</a> and much more – complete with summaries and highlights. We also added to our <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/pari-library/">Library Bulletin</a> project which rounds-up PARI stories and resources on specific concerns. Next year, we aim to widen the scope of our study which sustains this people&#39;s library. Keep dropping in to see what’s new!

To volunteer with PARI Library, write to contact@ruralindiaonline.orgIf the work we do interests you and you would like to contribute to PARI, please write to us at contact@ruralindiaonline.org. We welcome freelance and independent writers, reporters, photographers, film makers, translators, editors, illustrators and researchers to work with us.Cover design: Swadesha Sharma

The PARI Library: wrapping up 2024

پاری لائبریری کا سال ۲۰۲۴

PARI గ్రంథాలయం: 2024కు ముగింపు

பாரி நூலகம்: 2024 ஒரு பார்வை

ਪਾਰੀ ਲਾਈਬ੍ਰੇਰੀ: 2024 'ਤੇ ਇੱਕ ਨਜ਼ਰ

ପରୀ ଲାଇବ୍ରେରୀ: ୨୦୨୪ର ପରିସମାପ୍ତି

पारी वाचनालय @ २०२४ – एक मागोवा

പാരി ലൈബ്രറി – 2024 അവസാനിക്കുമ്പോൾ

ಪರಿ ಲೈಬ್ರರಿ: 2024ರ ಒಂದು ಹಿನ್ನೋಟ

पारी लाइब्रेरी का साल 2024

પારી લાઇબ્રેરીનું 2024નું સરવૈયું

पारी लाइब्रेरी: साल 2024 के समापन

सन् 2024 आ पारी लाइब्रेरी

পারি লাইব্রেরি: সালতামামি ২০২৪

পাৰি লাইব্ৰেৰীৰ ২০২৪ বৰ্ষটো

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


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.PARI exists to change that.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.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.&nbsp;

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The PARI Library: wrapping up 2024

Looking back at some of the most interesting and important resources released and archived this year we realise that the frontrunners had much to do with the elections, economy and the environment

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