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Environment
July 2023

As CM lobbied, Centre went against rules, courts to allow river mining in Uttarakhand

Before the onset of monsoon, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami personally lobbied with the Centre to keep mining four rivers. The Centre, ruled by his fellow partymen, fulfilled his demand in breach of critical environmental safeguards.

Published in:
English
Governance
June 2023

India fumbles towards a carbon market

Will India allow industries to sell carbon credits in the international market at a cost to the country? The upcoming national carbon market postpones answering this fundamental question.

Published in:
English
Governance
June 2023

Meet Uttarakhand leaders targeting Muslims, while police turn a blind eye

Police and Administration dismiss threats asking Muslims of Purola town to leave as media hype, but The Collective finds in plain sight leaders targeting Muslims, and maps rising hate crimes that are turning the state into a communal tinderbox

Published in:
English
Environment
November 2023

Patanjali’s shadow real-estate empire

Hidden in plain sight, the Patanjali business empire is functioning as a dubious real-estate agency buying and selling forested lands in the fragile Aravalli mountain range through a web of shell companies.

Published in:
English
Technology
October 2023

In Manipur ethnic conflict, social media warriors fight to win battle of narratives

Who had access to internet during the Manipur conflict when the state shut it off for ordinary citizens? And what did they use it for? A war on social media. Concerted campaigns. Hackers on hire. And angry citizens. We report on the battle of information, disinformation and hate from Manipur. We teamed up with tech experts to analyse hundreds of thousands of social media messages to understand the conflict running online.

Published in:
English
हिंदी
Finance
October 2023

RBI turns up heat after exposé on chinks in Bank of Baroda app, audits reveal bank’s agents stole customers’ money

RBI asks Bank of Baroda to suspend registering new customers on its banking app after exposé, but cover-up afoot

Published in:
हिंदी
Governance
October 2023

Coal Reforms Undermined

The Collective’s investigation reveals the Union government gave away coal blocks to private companies based on its discretion, undermining the landmark 2014 Supreme court order and the coal reforms it had unveiled. The Centre also gave into lobbying by power companies to open up the densest forests for mining, defying environment ministry

Published in:
English
हिंदी
ಕನ್ನಡ
മലയാളം
मराठी
Environment
September 2023

Forests for Profit

This investigative series exposes how the Modi government favoured commercial interests over forest conservation and indigenous rights while abandoning the long-delayed National Forest Policy. Just after taking office, it aimed to open forests for private plantations, culminating in the 2023 amendments to the Forest (Conservation) Act. These changes prioritize profit over biodiversity, granting private businesses access to India's forests. The amendment limits protection to recognized forests, endangering large swathes of potential unofficial forestland. These investigations reveal a troubling pattern of forest exploitation, corporate interests, and indigenous rights neglect.

Published in:
English
हिंदी
മലയാളം
தமிழ்
অসমীয়া
Governance
August 2023

In Farmers’ Name

The Collective’s investigation illuminates the corporate influence on the agricultural policies of the Union government. It uncovers how an NRI with no agricultural expertise managed to capture Niti Aayog's attention and got himself, and the people he picked, to be part of the task force formed by Niti Aayog to find ways to double farmers’ income. The investigation thrust open the doors of the task force behind which Adani Group candidly advocated the removal of restrictions on corporate companies hoarding agricultural commodities, which become a law two years later and trigged farmers’ protest.

Published in:
English
हिंदी
অসমীয়া
ಕನ್ನಡ
தமிழ்
Legal
July 2023

Indian state’s new tax on digital platforms sets gig workers against firms

Gig workers have welcomed a new law in India’s largest state Rajasthan to impose a tax on revenue earned by digital platforms that operate in the state, including global giants Uber and Amazon, even as industry groups have warned it will eventually hurt customers and derail business in the state. The new law will impose a tax on each transaction on digital platforms to fund a welfare scheme for gig workers.

Published in:
English
Finance
July 2023

Exposé: Bank of Baroda exploited accounts by linking them to random mobile numbers

Internal Emails Reveal Thousands Of Bank Accounts Linked To Unauthorised Mobile Numbers To Fraudulently Boost Registrations On Its App, Raising Security Concerns

Published in:
English
Governance
May 2023

#ModifiedRice Papers

The Collective's investigation uncovers the Union government's rush to supply fortified rice to 80 crore Indians, ignoring failed pilot projects and warnings from the finance ministry and the head of premier medical research body. NITI Aayog confidentially reported the that government bungled pilot projects meant to gather scientific evidence on fortified rice. The investigation further revealed that international organisations linked to a Dutch fortified rice premix producer influenced government policy, provided evidence, and influenced standards.

Published in:
English
Governance
February 2023

CoalFiles: Govt grants unfair advantages to biz houses in coal deals

The investigation reveals that the government allowed private corporations to bypass the competitive process to corner large coal reserves. It allowed shell companies of a conglomerate to manipulate auctions, and granted an extraordinary favour to another.

Published in:
English
ಕನ್ನಡ
മലയാളം
Governance
February 2023

Revealed: Niti Aayog’s Role Behind Govt's Massive Cut in Food Subsidies for the Poor

The think tank pushed Modi gov't to cut food subsidies, curtail food security coverage and privatise PDS, documents reveal

Published in:
English
हिंदी
اردو
Finance
January 2023

In the budget ahead of national elections, challenges galore for Finance minister

Tapering growth, untamed inflation, alongside the pressure to ramp up welfare schemes in the run up to elections will shape the budget

Published in:
English
Governance
January 2023

True test for paramilitary candidates: secretive rules and vanishing vacancies

Thousands declared qualified yet denied jobs in Central Armed Police Forces as Union government leaves thousands of seats vacant without stating why

Published in:
English
हिंदी
اردو
Governance
December 2022

After foreign fund curbs, Modi gov’t squeezes domestic fundraisers of NGOs

Union government asks two prominent nonprofits to quit seeking donations in areas where the government runs schemes.

Published in:
English
हिंदी
Governance
December 2022

Banks illegally force Centre’s insurance schemes on customers

Banks have been either enrolling customers en masse from the backend or by obtaining consent signatures through lies, deceit or coercion

Published in:
English
हिंदी
Governance
December 2022

Company behind Bhopal gas tragedy used shell firms to continue biz with Indian gov’t companies

After the Bhopal gas tragedy, Union Carbide and its executives were declared absconders. Their properties were ordered to be attached. But, using a web of front companies it funnelled in goods and took out profits for more than a decade.

Published in:
English
हिंदी
മലയാളം
Legal
October 2022

New Madhya Pradesh law puts 12-year-old Muslim boy on trial for riot damage

Under the law, similar to the one in UP, the child if found guilty could be ordered to pay compensation to his neighbour. It will happen without a formal criminal investigation that requires a police investigation, a prosecution and a trial before a proper court that follows procedures and offers safeguards under IPC.

Published in:
English
हिंदी
Governance
September 2022

Paper trail debunks environment minister’s claim, proves his ministry had been planning to dilute tribal rights over forests

Internal files of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change reveal it had been planning to weaken tribal rights over forests since 2019. Modi government’s new Forest Conservation Rules made it easier for industries to grab their traditional homelands.

Published in:
English
Environment
September 2022

How to beat environmental laws? Vedanta shows you how

Vedanta’s pig iron industry in Goa got clearance to expand despite being caught emitting dangerous substance for more than a decade. It went to great lengths to dodge environmental laws and avoid paying for pollution mitigation efforts.

Published in:
English
हिंदी
اردو
অসমীয়া
Governance
July 2022

Centre changed rules to extend tenure of two powerful commissions' chairpersons

A grammatical loophole in appointment rules helps Women and Child Development Ministry push through the amendments to increase the terms of chairpersons of the National Commission for Women and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights

Published in:
English
हिंदी
Governance
June 2022

Centre Makes Aadhaar Must For Free Meals Under Nutrition Mission

The move could stop millions of poor children without Aadhaar from having healthy meal, and violates a Supreme Court order that no subsidy or service may be denied to children for want of Aadhaar

Published in:
English
हिंदी
Governance
June 2022

To discredit WHO’s Covid death estimates, the Union government used flawed data

The Union government used a flawed set of data to mask the gloomier death count calculated by the UN body, and ignored a robust number thrown up by another of its own survey. The data was so unreliable that 20 of the 36 states and Union territories saw more registered deaths than what the government claims died.

Published in:
English
हिंदी
मराठी
اردو
മലയാളം
Governance
June 2022

Only 17 parties in Supreme Court’s sealed list of 105 got electoral bonds, BJP cornered 68% of money

Supreme Court has not heard the Electoral Bond case for more than 2 years after receiving data from parties in a sealed cover. That has let the belief spread that Electoral Bonds were encashed by 105 political parties and the BJP’s claim that bonds are an efficient way to allow “donation to any political party of donors’ choice”.

Published in:
English
অসমীয়া
தமிழ்
हिंदी
ಕನ್ನಡ
Governance
April 2022

Centre's Modified Auction Rules Allowed Millers To Corner Pulses Meant For Poor, Finds Government Agency

The Union government's auctions worth more than Rs 4,600 crore to provide pulses to the poor and armed forces were rigged to benefit a few big millers, shows the findings of the National Productivity Council, a government research body headed by Minister Piyush Goyal. The Council’s findings confirm The Collective’s previous exposé that the terms of auctions allowed the millers to rip the government off tonnes of pulses and sell them at a profit in the open market, and also supply poor-quality pulses.

Published in:
English
অসমীয়া
हिंदी
اردو
मराठी
Finance
April 2022

RBI Papers Investigation

In the investigative series on India’s monetary policy, The Collective found evidence of Modi government’s attempts at making inroads into the RBI and nibble away its independence in setting the country’s monetary policy, which primarily aims to keep prices stable. The series spotlights how the same government that brought in the independent monetary policy framework defeated its key goals of transparency and accountability.

Published in:
English
हिंदी
ಕನ್ನಡ
Governance
April 2022

A Finance Minister In The Worst Of Times

Nirmala Sitharaman's old friends were surprised at her decision to join the BJP over a decade ago as they remembered her as a hardcore Freethinker, a student union that took pride in itself on its lack of dogmatism, at the JNU. She moved up the ladder by making the right friends. Sitharaman is now employing the skills that stood her in good stead, as the BJP's national spokesperson, to deflect criticism about the worsening state of the Indian economy during her stint as the finance minister.

Published in:
English
Technology
March 2022

Eyeball Politics: How Facebook Gave BJP a Leg-Up

TRC investigated more than 5 lakh political advertisements on Facebook and Instagram to assess the influence of Facebook on elections. We found evidence that the world’s biggest social media network systematically undercut political competition by giving unfair advantage to BJP in elections. Read our four-part investigative series here.

Published in:
English
অসমীয়া
বাংলা
हिंदी
മലയാളം
Environment
March 2022

In Jammu Illegal River Mining Crackdown, Offenders Have It Easy

Former J&K BJP legislator Vikram Randhawa accused BJP's Union minister Jitendra Singh of profiting from corruption in Jammu's mining department after being being slapped with Rs 96 lakh penalty for illegal river mining. The accusations were withdrawn and guns holstered. But penalty documents and inquiry committee reports reveal how Jammu's mining department abandoned penalties worth Rs 6.68 crore on stone crushers operating illegally around Tawi and how miners had it easy.

Published in:
English
Governance
January 2022

Pandemic Found Them, Compensation May Not

Through death register data obtained from across the country, The Reporters’ Collective estimates that in the pandemic 3,59,496 more people died than in a normal year in just 3 states where officially only 28,609 died of Covid. Experts fear relatives of thousands of Covid-19 victims will be excluded from compensation due to lack of medical records, poor testing and red-tape despite the Centre initiating compensation procedure on the instructions of the Supreme Court.

Published in:
English
हिंदी
اردو
Governance
January 2022

Successive Punjab Govts Leased Out Land To Bharti and Del Monte Firm For Peanuts Despite Red Flags

The land, whose current market value could be anywhere between Rs 600 crore and Rs 1,000 crore, was leased for 33 years at Rs 6 lakh annually with a 5% increase in the rent every four years. Illustration: The Wire

Published in:
English
हिंदी
Legal
December 2021

Revealed: How Linking Aadhaar And Voter Data Has Helped Parties Manipulate Elections

From predicting millions of voting choices to deleting inconvenient voters, a world of manipulative possibilities could be opened by the government’s decision—controversially pushed through Parliament—to link Aadhaar, India’s national identity database, and election commission data.

Published in:
English
অসমীয়া
ಕನ್ನಡ
Governance
December 2021

Modi Govt's Opaque Auction Rules Rip Off Govt Coffers, Help Millers Strike Rich

Auction method used to mill pulses under welfare schemes for poor and armed forces allowed millers to make unchecked profits for years, hammering the public exchequer and the quality of pulses supplied

Published in:
English
हिंदी
മലയാളം
ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
অসমীয়া
Governance
September 2021

Blood In The Bottle: In Punjab, Illicit Liquor Trade Is Deeply Entangled With State's Economy

A year after Punjab's Hooch tragedy when over a 100 people died in mid-2020 after consuming illicit liquor the state's politicians, police and excise officials have ensured the state's illicit liquor trade carries on.

Published in:
English
Governance
August 2021

Gujarat's Real Covid Tragedy Revealed: Data Suggests At Least 2.8 Lakh Excess Deaths During Pandemic

Data from thousands of pages of death registers maintained by municipalities in Gujarat show an excess death count of 16,892 for just 6% of the state's population during the pandemic. When projected across the state, the figure zooms to a staggering 281,000.

Published in:
English
অসমীয়া
বাংলা
हिंदी
ಕನ್ನಡ
Governance
August 2021

Flawed Reform: How Modi Govt's New Coal Auction Regime Robs Chhattisgarh of Rs 900 Crore a Year

Under its commercial coal mining auctions, the Modi govt has sold off at least two coal blocks for rates cheaper than their 2015 prices. As a result Chhattisgarh will end up losing Rs 900 crore every year and over Rs 24,000 crore over decades.

Published in:
English
हिंदी
Environment
June 2021

How Niti Aayog Hand-Picked SC Rulings To Probe Judicial Activism

The Niti Aayog wants to review economic impacts of Supreme Court rulings on environmental-law violations. Its officials are supposedly not investigating ‘judicial activism’. Files we obtained under RTI show that is indeed what they are doing.

Published in:
English
Governance
May 2021

Govt Records Expose Its Lies On 'Effective' Foreign Covid Aid Distribution

Two days after the Health Ministry said it has ensured 'effective' distribution of foreign Covid aid and lambasted media for reports on its haphazard handling of the donations, its own records belie the claims. Internal records show large consignments were either 'in transit' or yet to even be allocated -- some from as far back as April 30!

Published in:
English
Governance
May 2021

How MEA's Inaction Forced Embassies To Seek Covid Assistance From Opposition

MEA made urgent late evening deployments to its Covid Cell as late as May 01. This was 24 hours after the Philippines Embassy sought help from Indian Youth Congress for delivery of oxygen cylinders. In response, the MEA launched a bitter Twitter dogfight against the opposition for supplying cylinders to the embassy.

Published in:
English
Manipuri
Legal
April 2021

A Hack: Evidence Was Planted To Frame The Bhima Koregaon 16, Reveals Report

A new report by US-based Arsenal Consulting, a digital forensics agency, claims that 22 ‘incriminating’ filed were planted into activist Rona Wilson’s laptop. These files are among the primary evidence against Wilson and 15 others currently in jail.

Published in:
অসমীয়া
বাংলা
English
हिंदी
ಕನ್ನಡ
Governance
April 2021

Fake Recovery: How Economic Turnaround After Covid's First Wave Was Built On Slashing Jobs, Wages

Investigating the records and practices at India's largest and government owned-steel plants in Asansol and Durgapur in West Bengal shows hundreds of workers lost jobs, and many more suffered wage loss even as the company made profits.

Published in:
English
Governance
April 2021

A Bulky Mess: How Indian Vehicular Data Was Sold Cheap

Through a secretive deal, the government sold off vehicular bulk data of the entire country to a private company in a deal that officials red-flagged over lack of price discovery. With this exclusive low-cost bounty, the firm developed an entire business model based on the data. It even cut a separate agreement with a German firm and sent samples of sensitive data it received from the government. All this happened five years before the government announced a dedicated policy to sell the same data to other buyers.

Published in:
English
हिंदी
অসমীয়া
मराठी
اردو
Legal
March 2021

Inside The Hindu IT Cell: The Men Who Went Online To Protect Gods

A network of self-proclaimed Hindu volunteers file legal complaints and unleash a toxic wave of trolling, harassment, threats and doxing against social media users who they believed make “anti-Hindu” remarks

Published in:
English
हिंदी
മലയാളം
தமிழ்
অসমীয়া
Governance
May 2020

Covid Crisis: How Dodgy Data Plagued Government Moves

Modi government first ignored its experts' recommendations on how to lift the country-wide lockdown. It then based its response on unreliable data, show its own records. This led to surge in Covid-19 cases

Published in:
English
ಕನ್ನಡ
తెలుగు
অসমীয়া
বাংলা
Governance
April 2020

How The Government Botched Its Covid-19 Response

Government documents and internal meeting records show its experts warned that a country-wide lockdown would only delay the pandemic not control it. The government repeatedly ignored experts' warnings and did not put in place key protocols even after a month into the lockdown

Published in:
English
हिंदी
മലയാളം
বাংলা
অসমীয়া
Finance
March 2020

Covid-19 Aid Package

Analysis of Modi's package: Analysis: Modi govt’s #COVID19 aid package is miserly & unimaginative. It will do little for poor who need help. With data & more.

Published in:
हिंदी
मराठी
తెలుగు
ગુજરાતી
Technology
March 2020

Surveillance Nation: Inside Modi Govt’s Plan To Monitor Every Indian

The government is setting up building blocks of a project that, in the garb of welfare programs, can lead to tracking of all 1.3 billion citizens from cradle to grave. Every bit of our lives will be linked, recorded and monitored

Published in:
English
हिंदी
മലയാളം
ಕನ್ನಡ
తెలుగు
Finance
November 2019

Paisa Politics: Exposing The Govt's Electoral Bonds Fraud

Documents sourced through Right To Information applications reveal several irregularities in how the government brought the controversial source of political financing into effect

Published in:
English
हिंदी
മലയാളം
தமிழ்

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