Palagummi Sainath - Revision history

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	'''Palagummi Sainath''' (born 1957) is an Indian [[journalist]] and author of the book ''[[Everybody Loves a Good Drought]]''.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web\|title=Sainath, Palagummi\|url=https://www.rmaward.asia/awardee/sainath-palagummi\|access-date=2021-09-02\|website=www.rmaward.asia}}</ref> He has reported on rural India, writing about [[Poverty in India\|poverty]], [[Economic inequality\|structural inequities]], [[Dalit#Discrimination\|caste discrimination]] and [[2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest\|farmers protests]].<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite web\|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/13/opinion/india-farmers-crisis.html\|title=In India, Farmers Face a Terrifying Crisis\|work=New York Times\|date=13 April 2018\|author=P Sainath}}</ref><ref name="Mukherjee">[https://thewire.in/rights/farm-bills-agrarian-crisis-p-sainath-mitali-mukherjee "Farm Bills Will Create a Vacuum that May Result in Utter Chaos: P. Sainath"] 23 September 2020. Mukherjee, Mitali. ''The Wire''.</ref>		'''Palagummi Sainath''' (born 1957) is an Indian [[journalist]] and author of the book ''[[Everybody Loves a Good Drought]]''.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web\|title=Sainath, Palagummi\|url=https://www.rmaward.asia/awardee/sainath-palagummi\|access-date=2021-09-02\|website=www.rmaward.asia}}</ref> He has reported on rural India, writing about [[Poverty in India\|poverty]], [[Economic inequality\|structural inequities]], [[Dalit#Discrimination\|caste discrimination]] and [[2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest\|farmers protests]].<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite web\|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/13/opinion/india-farmers-crisis.html\|title=In India, Farmers Face a Terrifying Crisis\|work=New York Times\|date=13 April 2018\|author=P Sainath}}</ref><ref name="Mukherjee">[https://thewire.in/rights/farm-bills-agrarian-crisis-p-sainath-mitali-mukherjee "Farm Bills Will Create a Vacuum that May Result in Utter Chaos: P. Sainath"] 23 September 2020. Mukherjee, Mitali. ''The Wire''.</ref>

	He was awarded the [[Ramon Magsaysay Award]] in 2007, for believing that "journalism is for people, not for shareholders", and for writing about "those who have been left behind".<ref>{{Cite web\|last=Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation\|date=\|title=Sainath, Palagummi\|url=https://www.rmaward.asia/awardees/sainath-palagummi/\|url-status=live\|archive-url=\|archive-date=\|access-date=10 January 2021\|website=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web\|~~last1=Aug 1\|first1~~=TNN /\|~~last2~~=2007~~\|last3=Ist\|first3=03:03~~\|title=P Sainath wins Magsaysay Award {{!}} India News - Times of India\|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/P-Sainath-wins-Magsaysay-Award/articleshow/2247397.cms\|access-date=2021-01-10\|website=The Times of India\|language=en}}</ref> He founded the [[People's Archive of Rural India]] (PARI) in 2014, an online platform that focuses on social and [[economic inequality]], rural affairs, [[poverty]], and the aftermath of [[globalization]] in India.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://indiatogether.org/sainath-interviews\|title=Invisible India is the elephant in your bedroom\|author=P Sainath\|date=1 August 2007\|website=Indiatogether.org\|access-date=28 March 2019}}</ref> He was a senior fellow at Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, and was earlier the Rural Affairs Editor at ''[[The Hindu]]'' until his resignation in 2014.<ref>{{cite web\|title=Another churn at The Hindu as Praveen Swami & P Sainath quit\|url=http://www.bestmediainfo.com/2014/07/another-churn-at-the-hindu-as-praveen-swami-p-sainath-quit/\|website=Bestmediainfo.com}}</ref>		He was awarded the [[Ramon Magsaysay Award]] in 2007, for believing that "journalism is for people, not for shareholders", and for writing about "those who have been left behind".<ref>{{Cite web\|last=Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation\|date=\|title=Sainath, Palagummi\|url=https://www.rmaward.asia/awardees/sainath-palagummi/\|url-status=live\|archive-url=\|archive-date=\|access-date=10 January 2021\|website=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web\|agency=TNN\|date=Aug 1, 2007\|title=P Sainath wins Magsaysay Award {{!}} India News - Times of India\|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/P-Sainath-wins-Magsaysay-Award/articleshow/2247397.cms\|access-date=2021-01-10\|website=The Times of India\|language=en}}</ref> He founded the [[People's Archive of Rural India]] (PARI) in 2014, an online platform that focuses on social and [[economic inequality]], rural affairs, [[poverty]], and the aftermath of [[globalization]] in India.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://indiatogether.org/sainath-interviews\|title=Invisible India is the elephant in your bedroom\|author=P Sainath\|date=1 August 2007\|website=Indiatogether.org\|access-date=28 March 2019}}</ref> He was a senior fellow at [[Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research]], and was earlier the Rural Affairs Editor at ''[[The Hindu]]'' until his resignation in 2014.<ref>{{cite web\|title=Another churn at The Hindu as Praveen Swami & P Sainath quit\|url=http://www.bestmediainfo.com/2014/07/another-churn-at-the-hindu-as-praveen-swami-p-sainath-quit/\|website=Bestmediainfo.com}}</ref>

	The economist [[Amartya Sen]] called him "one of the world's great experts on [[famine]] and [[hunger]]".<ref name='FAO Boerma'>{{cite web \| url=http://www.fao.org/News/2001/sainath-e.htm \| title=Boerma Award winners talk about their work \| publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]] \| url-status=live \| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011124205726/http://www.fao.org/news/2001/sainath-e.htm \| archive-date=2001-11-24 \| access-date=2014-03-24 }}</ref> His book, ''Everybody Loves a Good Drought'', is a collection of his field reports as a journalist, and focuses on different aspects of rural deprivation in India.<ref>{{Cite web\|date=2019-08-31\|title=Everyone loves a good drought: Book review\|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/humblyspeaking/everyone-loves-a-good-drought-book-review-5383/\|access-date=2021-01-10\|website=Times of India Blog\|language=en}}</ref>		The economist [[Amartya Sen]] called him "one of the world's great experts on [[famine]] and [[hunger]]".<ref name='FAO Boerma'>{{cite web \| url=http://www.fao.org/News/2001/sainath-e.htm \| title=Boerma Award winners talk about their work \| publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]] \| url-status=live \| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011124205726/http://www.fao.org/news/2001/sainath-e.htm \| archive-date=2001-11-24 \| access-date=2014-03-24 }}</ref> His book, ''Everybody Loves a Good Drought'', is a collection of his field reports as a journalist, and focuses on different aspects of rural deprivation in India.<ref>{{Cite web\|date=2019-08-31\|title=Everyone loves a good drought: Book review\|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/humblyspeaking/everyone-loves-a-good-drought-book-review-5383/\|access-date=2021-01-10\|website=Times of India Blog\|language=en}}</ref>

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{{short description|Indian journalist}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{BLP primary sources|date=January 2021}}
{{Unreliable sources|date=January 2021}}
}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Palagummi Sainath
| honorific_prefix =
| honorific_suffix =
| image = P Sainath.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = P. Sainath in a meeting at [[Attappadi]], Kerala, India
| pseudonym =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1957|5|13}}
| birth_place = [[Madras]], [[Madras State]], India
| death_date = 
| death_place =
| resting_place =
| occupation = [[Journalist]]
| language =
| nationality =
| ethnicity =
| citizenship =
| education =
| alma_mater = [[Loyola College, Chennai|Loyola College]]<br />[[Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi|Jawaharlal Nehru University]]
| period =
| genre =
| subject =
| movement =
| notable_works = ''[[Everybody Loves a Good Drought]]''
| title =
| spouse =
| partner =
| children =
| relatives =
| awards = [[Ramon Magsaysay Award]]<br />[[People's Union for Civil Liberties|PUCL Human Rights Journalism Award]]<br />[[Raja-Lakshmi Award]]
| signature =
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| website = {{URL|psainath.org}}
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'''Palagummi Sainath''' (born 1957) is an Indian [[journalist]] and author of the book ''[[Everybody Loves a Good Drought]]''.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Sainath, Palagummi|url=https://www.rmaward.asia/awardee/sainath-palagummi|access-date=2021-09-02|website=www.rmaward.asia}}</ref> He has reported on rural India, writing about [[Poverty in India|poverty]], [[Economic inequality|structural inequities]], [[Dalit#Discrimination|caste discrimination]] and [[2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest|farmers protests]].<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/13/opinion/india-farmers-crisis.html|title=In India, Farmers Face a Terrifying Crisis|work=New York Times|date=13 April 2018|author=P Sainath}}</ref><ref name="Mukherjee">[https://thewire.in/rights/farm-bills-agrarian-crisis-p-sainath-mitali-mukherjee "Farm Bills Will Create a Vacuum that May Result in Utter Chaos: P. Sainath"] 23 September 2020. Mukherjee, Mitali. ''The Wire''.</ref>

He was awarded the [[Ramon Magsaysay Award]] in 2007, for believing that "journalism is for people, not for shareholders", and for writing about "those who have been left behind".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation|date=|title=Sainath, Palagummi|url=https://www.rmaward.asia/awardees/sainath-palagummi/|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=10 January 2021|website=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Aug 1|first1=TNN /|last2=2007|last3=Ist|first3=03:03|title=P Sainath wins Magsaysay Award {{!}} India News - Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/P-Sainath-wins-Magsaysay-Award/articleshow/2247397.cms|access-date=2021-01-10|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref> He founded the [[People's Archive of Rural India]] (PARI) in 2014, an online platform that focuses on social and [[economic inequality]], rural affairs, [[poverty]], and the aftermath of [[globalization]] in India.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indiatogether.org/sainath-interviews|title=Invisible India is the elephant in your bedroom|author=P Sainath|date=1 August 2007|website=Indiatogether.org|access-date=28 March 2019}}</ref> He was a senior fellow at Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, and was earlier the Rural Affairs Editor at ''[[The Hindu]]'' until his resignation in 2014.<ref>{{cite web|title=Another churn at The Hindu as Praveen Swami & P Sainath quit|url=http://www.bestmediainfo.com/2014/07/another-churn-at-the-hindu-as-praveen-swami-p-sainath-quit/|website=Bestmediainfo.com}}</ref>

The economist [[Amartya Sen]] called him "one of the world's great experts on [[famine]] and [[hunger]]".<ref name='FAO Boerma'>{{cite web | url=http://www.fao.org/News/2001/sainath-e.htm | title=Boerma Award winners talk about their work | publisher=[[Food and Agriculture Organization]] | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011124205726/http://www.fao.org/news/2001/sainath-e.htm | archive-date=2001-11-24 | access-date=2014-03-24 }}</ref> His book, ''Everybody Loves a Good Drought'', is a collection of his field reports as a journalist, and focuses on different aspects of rural deprivation in India.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-08-31|title=Everyone loves a good drought: Book review|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/humblyspeaking/everyone-loves-a-good-drought-book-review-5383/|access-date=2021-01-10|website=Times of India Blog|language=en}}</ref>
[[File:Sainathp.jpg|thumb|PARI gets first Praful Bidwai Memorial Award]]

==Early life and education==
Sainath was born into a Telugu speaking family in [[Madras]]. He is the grandson of Indian politician and former President of India, [[V. V. Giri]].{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

Sainath went to [[Loyola College, Chennai|Loyola College]] in Chennai. He has a history degree from [[Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi|Jawaharlal Nehru University]], [[Delhi]].<ref name='guests_of_nero'>{{cite web|url=http://www.nerosguests.com/synopsis.html|title=nerosguests.com - Diese Website steht zum Verkauf! - Informationen zum Thema nerosguests.|website=Nerosguests.com|access-date=28 March 2019}}</ref>

==Career==
Sainath started his career at the ''United News of India'' in 1980. He then worked for the ''[[Blitz (newspaper)|Blitz]]'', a major Indian weekly tabloid published from [[Mumbai]], first as foreign affairs [[editing|editor]] and then as deputy editor, which he continued for ten years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://scroll.in/article/812835/blitz-revisited-is-p-sainath-carrying-forward-the-legacy-of-one-of-indias-greatest-cultural-icons|title=Blitz revisited: How P Sainath carried forward the legacy of one of India's greatest cultural icons|website=Scroll|access-date=9 Jan 2021}}</ref>

On June 28, 2021, P. Sainath won the [[Fukuoka Prize|Fukuoka Grand Prize]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=28 June 2021|title=Grand Prize 2021 [31st] PALAGUMMI Sainath|url=https://fukuoka-prize.org/en/laureates/detail/de88519f-9b41-45c8-9e0d-bfdbb241e3a7|url-status=live|website=Fukuaka Prize}}</ref> one of Japan’s most prestigious international awards that honours ‘individuals, groups or organisations who create as well as preserve the many distinct and diverse cultures of the Asian Region.’ The last Indian winner of the Fukuoka Grand Prize was music maestro A.R. Rahman<ref>{{Cite web|title=A. R. RAHMAN|url=https://fukuoka-prize.org/en/topics/detail/21595a66-2b06-425e-90d6-aeaf83bfb904|access-date=2021-07-05|website=Fukuoka Prize|language=en}}</ref> in 2016. In the 31-year history of the award, P. Sainath is the first Grand Prize Laureate from the field of Journalism. Sainath is contributing the 5-million-yen prize money for two purposes: Rs. 1 million to families of rural journalists<ref>{{Cite web|last=Priyadarshini|first=Anna|title=‘Will raise funds for families of rural journalists who died of Covid’: P Sainath on winning Fukuoka Grand Prize|url=https://www.newslaundry.com/2021/06/29/will-raise-funds-for-families-of-rural-journalists-who-died-of-covid-p-sainath-on-winning-fukuoka-grand-prize|access-date=2021-07-05|website=Newslaundry}}</ref> who have lost their lives to Covid-19. And Rs. 2.3 million to set up People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI) fellowships for rural journalists from Dalit and Adivasi communities.

Sainath was awarded the 2007 [[Ramon Magsaysay Award]] for Journalism Literature and Creative Communications Arts. He was given the award for his "passionate commitment as a journalist to restore the rural poor to India’s national consciousness".<ref>{{cite web|title=Sainath, Palagummi|url=https://www.rmaward.asia/awardees/sainath-palagummi/|access-date=5 January 2021|website=rmaward.asia}}</ref> He was the first Indian to win the Magsaysay in that category after R.K. Laxman in 1984.<ref name="TH">{{cite news|last1=Menon|first1=Meena|date=26 January 2015|title=The uncommon man: R.K. Laxman (1921-2015)|work=[[The Hindu]]|publisher=[[The Hindu Group]]|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/r-k-laxman-the-uncommon-man/article6824003.ece|access-date=9 January 2021}}</ref>

Sainath became the first Indian reporter to win the European Commission's [[Lorenzo Natali Prize]] for journalism in 1995.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-95-999_en.htm|title=European Commission - PRESS RELEASES - Press release - MR. P. SAINATH AWARDED WITH THE NATALI PRIZE OF JOURNALISM|website=Europa.eu|access-date=28 March 2019}}</ref> In 2000, he won the inaugural [[Amnesty International]] Global Human Rights Journalism Prize.<ref name="psainath.org">{{cite web|url=https://psainath.org/about-p-sainath/about/|title=Palagummi Sainath – P. Sainath|website=Psainath.org|access-date=28 March 2019}}</ref> That same year, he was awarded the United Nation's Food & Agriculture Organisation's Boerma Prize.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/NEWS/2001/sainath-e.htm|title=Boerma Award winners talk about their work|website=Fao.org|access-date=28 March 2019}}</ref> In 2002, he was given the Inspiration Award at the Global Visions Film Festival in Edmonton, Canada.<ref name="coady.stfx.ca"/> During the decade, Sainath toured ten drought-stricken states in India. This tour inspired him to write his book ''[[Everybody Loves a Good Drought]]''.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}} He was awarded the Harry Chapin Media Award in New York in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/static/html/fl2418/stories/20070921507010900.htm|title=Honouring Sainath|website=Frontline.thehindu.com|access-date=28 March 2019}}</ref>

Sainath has not accepted government awards stating, "Journalism should not be judged by government and journalists should not accept awards from governments they are covering or writing about".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/sainath-refuses-padma-shri/story-2alQHsika2dtlQdROnfjWN.html|title=Sainath refuses Padma Shri|date=January 30, 2009|newspaper=Hindustan Times}}</ref> In 2009 he won the Ramnath Goenka 'Journalist of the Year' award<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.exchange4media.com/news/story.aspx?Section_id=8&News_id=34475|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120904200731/http://www.exchange4media.com/news/story.aspx?Section_id=8&News_id=34475|url-status=dead|title=Ramnath Goenka Awards: Karan Thapar, P Sainath adjudged 'Journalist o…|date=4 September 2012|archive-date=4 September 2012|website=Archive.is|access-date=28 March 2019}}</ref> from [[The Indian Express]].

On July 7, 2021, the government of the state of Andhra Pradesh announced the winners of its new YSR Lifetime Achievement Awards. Sainath’s was the first name in the journalist category for this prize that gives each winner Rs. 1 million.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Staff Reporter|date=2021-07-08|title=YSR Lifetime Achievement, YSR Achievement awards announced|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/ysr-lifetime-achievement-ysr-achievement-awards-announced/article35203392.ece|access-date=2021-07-17|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> He, however, turned down the prize as it is his belief that journalists should not accept awards from governments they cover and critique. In his words “the journalist is an external auditor to government.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Scribes shouldn't accept govt prizes: P Sainath on rejecting YSR Lifetime Achievement award|url=https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/scribes-shouldnt-accept-govt-prizes-p-sainath-on-rejecting-ysr-lifetime-achievement-award|access-date=2021-07-17|website=Free Press Journal|language=en}}</ref>”

This is not the first time Sainath has declined state honours. He has never accepted one in 40 years and has turned down several, including the Padma Bhushan <ref>{{Cite web|last=Team|first=N. L.|title='Journalists should not accept awards from govts they critique': P Sainath declines AP government award|url=https://www.newslaundry.com/2021/07/08/journalists-should-not-accept-awards-from-govts-they-critique-p-sainath-declines-ap-government-award|access-date=2021-07-17|website=Newslaundry}}</ref> – India’s third highest civilian award – in 2009, on the same grounds on which he declined the YSR Lifetime Achievement award.

Canadian documentary film maker Joe Moulins made a film about Sainath titled "A Tribe of his Own". When the jury at the [[Edmonton International Film Festival]] picked its winner, it decided to include Sainath in the award along with the maker of the film because this was 'an award about inspiration'. Another documentary film, ''Nero's Guests'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nerosguests.com/ |title=Nero's Guests |publisher=Nerosguests.com |access-date=29 November 2011}}</ref> looks at inequality (as manifest in [[Farmers' suicides in India|India's agrarian crisis]]) through Sainath's reporting on the subject. ''Nero's Guests'' won the Indian Documentary Producers Association's Gold Medal for best documentary<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.idpaindia.org/awards/awards.htm |title=Gold Model for best documentary |publisher=Idpaindia.org |date=15 July 2011 |access-date=29 November 2011}}</ref> for 2010.

He was awarded a Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) degree ''honoris causa'' by the [[University of Alberta]] in Edmonton in 2011<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ualberta.ca/news-and-events/newsarticles/2011/06/springconvocationarmedandreadytojointhebattlegroundofideas |title=Archived copy |access-date=18 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818200140/https://www.ualberta.ca/news-and-events/newsarticles/2011/06/springconvocationarmedandreadytojointhebattlegroundofideas |archive-date=18 August 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and another [[Doctor of Letters|D.Litt]] by the [[St. Francis Xavier University]], Nova Scotia, in 2017.

In 2012, he served as the McGraw Professor of Writing at [[Princeton University]]. He was the McGraw Professor of Writing at [[Princeton University]] Fall (2012).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.princeton.edu/piirs/news-events/psainath/ |title=Archived copy |access-date=18 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822184627/http://www.princeton.edu/piirs/news-events/psainath/ |archive-date=22 August 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://humanities.princeton.edu/2018/03/29/journalism-at-princeton-announces-2018-2019-visiting-professors/|title=Journalism at Princeton Announces 2018–2019 Visiting Professors — Princeton University Humanities Council|website=Humanities.princeton.edu|access-date=28 March 2019}}</ref> On 1 June 2015, Sainath became the first [[ThoughtWorks]] Chair Professor in Rural India and Digital Knowledge at the [[Asian College of Journalism, Chennai|Asian College of Journalism]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thoughtworks.com/news/thoughtworks-chair-professor|title=ThoughtWorks Chair Professor of Rural India and Digital Knowledge - P. Sainath - ThoughtWorks|website=Thoughtworks.com|access-date=28 March 2019}}</ref> He won the inaugural World Media Summit Global Award for Excellence 2014 in Public Welfare for exemplary news professionals in developing countries.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/world-media-summit-awards-for-p-sainath-al-jazeera/article6538890.ece|title=World Media Summit awards for P. Sainath, Al Jazeera|date=28 October 2014|access-date=28 March 2019|website=Thehindu.com}}</ref>

Sainath served as the Coady Chair in Social Justice at [[St. Francis Xavier University]].<ref name="coady.stfx.ca">{{Cite web |url=http://coady.stfx.ca/coady/media/sainath/ |title=Archived copy |access-date=18 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730210812/http://coady.stfx.ca/coady/media/sainath/ |archive-date=30 July 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Sainath is also a photographer <ref>[http://services.inquirer.net/print/print.php?article_id=82617 photographs] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206064549/http://services.inquirer.net/print/print.php?article_id=82617 |date=6 February 2008 }}</ref> that have accompanied his reporting for the past 40 years. His exhibition ''Visible Work, Invisible Women: Women and work in rural India'' has been seen by more than 600,000 people in India alone. The exhibit toured internationally and included a showing at the [[Asia Society]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://asiasociety.org/policy-politics/social-issues/women-and-gender/visible-work-invisible-women |title=Asia Society |publisher=Asia Society |access-date=29 November 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cbu-cis.ca/2010/03/events/visible-work-invisible-women-women-work-in-rural-india-official-opening/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20110706171559/http://cbu-cis.ca/2010/03/events/visible-work-invisible-women-women-work-in-rural-india-official-opening/|url-status=dead|title=Visible Work, Invisible Women: Women & Work in Rural India « Centre f…|date=6 July 2011|archive-date=6 July 2011|website=Archive.is|access-date=28 March 2019}}</ref>

===Research and books===
The [[International Monetary Fund]]-led [[Economic reforms in India|economic reforms]] launched in 1991 by [[Manmohan Singh]] constituted a watershed in [[economic history of India|India's economic history]] and in Sainath's career. He felt that the media's attention was moving from "news" to "entertainment" and consumerism and lifestyles of the urban elite gained prominence in the newspapers which rarely carried news of the reality of poverty in India.

He was awarded a fellowship and traveled to the ten poorest districts of five Indian states. He covered 100,000 km using sixteen forms of transportation and walked 5,000 km.<ref name="ashanet">{{cite web|url=http://www.ashanet.org/conferences/asha-10/links/sat-0600pm-keynote-02.pdf |title=Asha-10 The Tenth Anniversary Conference |access-date=29 November 2011}}</ref> He credits two editors at the Times with much of his success in getting the articles published, since it is one among the very newspapers that has been [[Times of India#Criticisms|accused of shifting the onus]] from page one to page three.{{clarify|date=January 2021}} The paper ran 84 reports by Sainath across 18 months, many of them subsequently reprinted in his book ''[[Everybody Loves A Good Drought]]''.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}} The website ''India Together''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indiatogether.org |title=India Together |publisher=India Together |access-date=29 November 2011}}</ref> has archived the reports he filed at ''The Hindu''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sainath |first1=P |title=Everybody loves a good drought |date=15 November 2017 |publisher=Penguin Books}}</ref>

His writing has provoked responses that include the revamping of the Drought Management Programs in the state of [[Tamil Nadu]], development of a policy on indigenous medical systems in [[Malkangiri]] in Orissa, and revamping of the Area Development Program for tribal people in [[Madhya Pradesh]] state. The Times of India institutionalized his methods of reporting and sixty other leading newspapers initiated columns on poverty and rural development.<ref name="ashoka">{{cite web |url=http://www.ashoka.org/node/2576 |title=Palagummi Sainath |publisher=Ashoka.org |access-date=29 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929084717/http://www.ashoka.org/node/2576 |archive-date=29 September 2011}}</ref>

He was instrumental in the establishment of the Agriculture Commission in Andhra Pradesh to suggest ways for improving agriculture in that state:
<blockquote> The crisis states are AP, Rajasthan and Orissa. In the single [[Anantapur district|district of Anantapur]], in Andhra Pradesh, between 1997 and 2000, more than 1800 people have committed suicides, but when the state assembly requested these statistics, only 54 were listed. [see 29 April and 6 May issues of [[The Hindu]], for more details]. Since suicide is considered a crime in India, the district crime records bureaus list categories for suicide – unrequited love, exams, husbands' and wives' behavior, etc.; in [[Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh|Anantapur]], the total from these categories was less than 5%. The largest number, 1061 people, were listed as having committed suicide because of "stomach ache". This fatal condition results from consuming [[Ciba-Geigy]]'s [[pesticide]], which the government distributes free, and is almost the only thing the rural poor can readily acquire!!<ref name="indiatogether">{{cite web |url=http://www.indiatogether.org/opinions/talks/psainath.htm |title=P. Sainath's talk to AID volunteers, May 2001 |publisher=Indiatogether.org |access-date=29 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605020059/http://indiatogether.org/opinions/talks/psainath.htm |archive-date=5 June 2014}}</ref></blockquote>

===Opinions===
Sainaith on the [[World Trade Organization]] (WTO) and Capitalism vs Socialism: <blockquote> The WTO and [[General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade|GATT]] type of agreements are very undemocratic. [[Corporation|Corporate]] leaders make policy, not the elected representatives. When people in [[Geneva]] draw up regulations, some local [[panchayat]] leader cannot be asked to address the consequences of those decisions, when his/her input was not sought in making the decision itself. The idea of different systems is superficial, the most striking aspect of [[Free market|free-market capitalism]] is that it has benefited the exact same people who gained from socialism! It isn't unexpected, either. After all, the South Commission report<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southcentre.org |title=SouthCentre |publisher=SouthCentre |access-date=29 November 2011}}</ref> was signed by Manmohan Singh 90 days before the liberalization process, can he really have changed his views that much in that time? Political opportunism and media management have provided the appearance of different choices and systems, without any meaningful changes in outcomes.<ref name="indiatogether"/></blockquote>

On the condition of law and order maintenance in India:<blockquote>"All the judges of the [[Supreme Court of India|Supreme Court]] do not have the power of a single police [[constable]]. That constable makes or breaks us. The judges can't re-write the laws and have to listen to learned lawyers of both sides. A constable here simply makes his own laws. He can do almost anything." With state and society winking at him, he pretty much can.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indiatogether.org/2005/sep/psa-gohana.htm |title=A much larger house on fire |publisher=Indiatogether.org |date=6 September 2005 |access-date=29 November 2011}}</ref></blockquote>

On [[market fundamentalism|Market Fundamentalism]]:<blockquote>Even a call for discussing this amounts to demanding 'obsolete' practices of the [[Economic interventionism|interventionist state]]. If we hadn’t mucked around trying to get the state to play God for 50 years, none of this would have happened. If only we had got it right and let the market play God instead. Based on the premise that the market is the solution to all the problems of the human race, it is, too, a very religious fundamentalism. It has its own [[Gospel]]: The Gospel of St. Growth, of St. Choice...Welcome to the world of Market Fundamentalism. To the Final Solution.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.india-seminar.com/2001/497/497%20p.%20sainath.htm |title=And then there was the market |publisher=India-seminar.com |access-date=29 November 2011}}</ref></blockquote>

On the absence of reporting on the poor in India:<blockquote>"You see it in the simplest and most direct way: the organisation of beats. Many beats have become extinct. Take the labour correspondent: when labour issues are covered at all, they come under the header of [[Industrial Relations]], and they’re covered by business correspondents. That means they’re covered by the guy whose job is to walk in the tracks of corporate leaders, and who, when he deigns to look at labour, does it through the eyes of corporate leaders. Now find me the agriculture columnist – in most newspapers, the idea doesn’t exist any more. If you lack correspondents on those two beats, you’re saying 70 per cent of the people in this country don’t matter, I don’t want to talk to them."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?235794 |title=Interview with Raghu Karnad in Outlook Magazine |publisher=Outlookindia.com |access-date=29 November 2011}}</ref></blockquote>

===PARI initiative===
Sainath, at an interaction program in [[Bangalore]], revealed that the [[People's Archive of Rural India]] is going to commence operation on an experimental basis from June 2013. According to him this meant to serve as "an archive and living journal of history of rural India". He also clarified that the archive will not accept any direct funding by the government or corporate houses hence it'll be an independent body. Sainath cited "Rural India is the most complex part of the planet" as the reason for launching PARI.
<ref name="pari">{{cite web | url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/sainath-plans-online-peoples-archive-of-rural-india/article4305024.ece | title=PARI | work=The Hindu|access-date=14 January 2013}}</ref>

== In literature or pop culture ==
Writer [[Manu Joseph]] caricatures Sainath using a character named "P Sathya" in his 2017 political thriller.<ref>[https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/leisure/story/20171030-miss-laila-armed-and-dangerous-ishrat-jahan-encounter-case-1067365-2017-10-20 "Manu Joseph's Miss Laila is a provocative take on Ishrat Jahan encounter case."] ''India Today''. Jason Overdorf. 20 October 2017.</ref>

==Bibliography==
;Works by Palagummi Sainath
* ''Everybody Loves a Good Drought: Stories from India's Poorest Districts'', Penguin Books, {{ISBN|0-14-025984-8}}

==See also==
* [[Farmers' suicides in India]]
* [[Farmers' suicide in Western Orissa]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*{{official}}
*[https://ruralindiaonline.org People's Archive of Rural India]
*[https://penguin.co.in/book_author/p-sainath/ P Sainath] at [[Penguin India]]

{{RMA winners of India}}
{{Ramon Magsaysay Award Winners}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sainath, P}}
[[Category:Ramon Magsaysay Award winners]]
[[Category:Journalists from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Telugu people]]
[[Category:1957 births]]
[[Category:Loyola College, Chennai alumni]]
[[Category:University of Madras alumni]]
[[Category:Jawaharlal Nehru University alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian journalists]]
[[Category:Indian male journalists]]
[[Category:Writers from Chennai]]
[[Category:Indian non-fiction environmental writers]]
[[Category:Farmers' rights activists]]