Who was Ramnath Goenka ?

hi

It is only apt that Newslaundry’s first Ramnath Goenka Award is for a series of stories that two newsrooms didn’t, ummm, let’s just say they didn’t find it worth publishing. It came to us when reporter Sandeep Pai, after chasing the story for nearly a year, called me up and said in a most fatigued tone: “Please find some space to publish it yaar, you’ll see it’s a good story.”

Sandeep had been my colleague during my tenure in DNA, in Delhi. He reached out to me in June 2015 with a stack of Right to Information (RTI) replies from various public sector undertakings (PSUs), and Union ministries. The story was clear – politicians across party lines were using PSUs as their piggy banks to cull favours for organisations with which they were directly or indirectly associated.

Among these official communications was a gem of a letter written by Congress MP Vijay Darda on October 4, 2013, to the then Minister of State for Power Jyotiraditya Scindia. Darda, who is also Chairman of Lokmat Media Private Limited, was upset with Scindia for not releasing ads to his media group despite its “good and positive coverage” of the power sector.

I know and have learnt only one form of journalism – anti-establishment journalism. I strongly believe that the role of a journalist is to speak truth to power and hold the powerful accountable.

This idea, however, does not find favour in some media organisations, as I found out when I began working on the RTI series as part of the investigations team of Hindustan Times in Delhi.

It is only apt that Newslaundry’s first Ramnath Goenka Award is for a series of stories that two newsrooms didn’t, ummm, let’s just say they didn’t find it worth publishing.

Ramnath Goenka, (born April 3, 1904, Darbhanga district, Bihar, India—died Oct. 5, 1991, Bombay [now Mumbai]), Indian newspaper publisher and crusader against government corruption.

Without telling my editors, I filed a few RTIs and received initial replies from big PSUs like NTPC that confirmed what my source had told me.

Goenka was born in northeastern India, schooled in Benares (Varanasi), and sent by his family to Madras (now Chennai) in 1922 to become a dealer in yarn and jute.

It came to us when reporter Sandeep Pai, after chasing the story for nearly a year, called me up and said in a most fatigued tone: “Please find some space to publish it yaar, you’ll see it’s a good story.”

Meanwhile, I made very good friends with people working in different PSUs. They told me they were frustrated with politicians who are shamelessly writing letters to seek tax payers’ money for their personal gains.

In 1934 he bought shares in a local company that owned the Indian Express newspaper.

Sandeep had been my colleague during my tenure in DNA, in Delhi. He reached out to me in June 2015 with a stack of Right to Information (RTI) replies from various public sector undertakings (PSUs), and Union ministries.

Two years later he took over the company and began to build a national network that eventually included 14 editions of the Indian Express—making it India’s largest English-language daily—and six other newspapers in as many Indian languages.

The story was clear – politicians across party lines were using PSUs as their piggy banks to cull favours for organisations with which they were directly or indirectly associated.

During the 1930s Goenka joined Mohandas Gandhi’s fight for independence from Britain and later became a supporter of the Indian National Congress (Congress Party) headed by Jawaharlal Nehru.

Ramnath Goenka, (born April 3, 1904, Darbhanga district, Bihar, India—died Oct. 5, 1991, Bombay [now Mumbai]), Indian newspaper publisher and crusader against government corruption.

You had Members of Parliament (MPs) like Prakash Javdekar asking Rural Electrification Corporation to give ads to an obscure magazine like Brahman Manas (which roughly translates to Brahmin Mindset).

In 1971 he was elected to Parliament and served one term.

There was Maneka Gandhi asking GAIL to fund a three-day event for her non-governmental organisation People for Animals, and PJ Kurien writing to NTPC for assistance of over Rs 70 lakh for a boat race in Kerala that was held under his patronage.

In 1975, reportedly in retaliation for enthusiastically supporting Jaya Prakash Narayan for prime minister, Goenka and the Indian Express were among the most harshly penalized during the national state of emergency imposed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi

Ramnath Goenka, (born April 3, 1904, Darbhanga district, Bihar, India—died Oct. 5, 1991, Bombay [now Mumbai]), Indian newspaper publisher and crusader against government corruption.

Among these official communications was a gem of a letter written by Congress MP Vijay Darda on October 4, 2013, to the then Minister of State for Power Jyotiraditya Scindia.

As soon as censorship was lifted, Goenka’s newspapers published a series of exposés on forced sterilizations, mass resettlements of the extreme poor, widespread corruption, and political arrests