The Reporters’ Collective produces investigative journalism in collaboration with other newsrooms, journalists and subject experts. We came together because the legacy media was failing miserably to hold the powerful accountable to citizens.

Every month, we produce at least two deep-dive investigative stories. Often, this requires us to engage deeply with whistleblowers. They lead us to documents and evidence hidden in the labyrinth of bureaucracy.

We parse through hundreds of pages of data and reports to uncover connections and join the dots. We travel quietly to locations across the country when the need arises. From this work, we derive our evidence-based investigations. Each such investigation, sometimes written in a series, goes through rigorous edits and fact-checks before we publish it.

This rigor has helped us uncover facts that the powerful prefer to keep hidden from citizens. Our investigations have led to debates in Parliament, were presented as evidence in the Supreme Court and have forced the government to right the wrongs. We have provided hard irrefutable evidence of systemic corruption, communalisation of polity, denial of rights of citizens and misgovernance. Indian and international media organisations have cited, used and curated our investigative reports, which have been republished in more than ten languages. Our reports have been cited by academics writing on India’s economy, corruption and public health.

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RBI Reins in Bank of Baroda’s App
Three months after this report was published, RBI issued a circular banning BoB from adding customers to this app. The story opened other banks to RBI’s scrutiny for similar frauds.
Exposé: Bank of Baroda exploited accounts by linking them to random mobile numbers

Hemanth Gairola

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

Electoral Bond Banned
Association for Democratic Reforms used this part as evidence in their petition against the Union of India in the Supreme Court, which subsequently banned electoral bonds.
Electoral Bonds: Govt Admits It Lied That Donors Asked For Secrecy

Nitin Sethi

The Modi government claimed repeatedly that donors asked for electoral bonds due to fear of political retribution if they used transparent methods of funding. An RTI reply shows this was a lie

SBI Lie Gets Nailed
In its Contempt of Court petition against SBI in Supreme Court, Association for Democratic Reforms used this piece as evidence to prove SBI was untruthful about not being able to trace bonds.
Electoral Bonds Are Traceable: Documents Nail Govt Lies On Anonymity

Nitin Sethi

The State Bank of India (SBI) maintains a secret number-based record of donors who buy electoral bonds, and the political parties they donate to. Law enforcement agencies can request access to this record

Parties protest Sainik School saffronisation
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote a letter to the President showing concern over saffronisation of Sainik Schools. Communist Party of India (Marxist) also issued a press statement after TRC’s story was published. 
Centre hands over 62% of new Sainik Schools to Sangh Parivar, BJP politicians and allies.

Astha Savyasachi

Sainik Schools, run under the Defence Ministry’s guidance, send cadets to India’s armed forces. The new initiative however relies on ideologically slanted organisations to train future cadets

Report on Facebook-BJP nexus rocks House
The Collective’s investigation found that the world’s biggest social media network systematically undercut the political competition by giving an unfair advantage to BJP in elections.

The findings were raised in Lok Sabha by MP Sonia Gandhi

A parliamentary standing committee questioned Facebook officials on its politically motivated algorithm.

Centre scraps opaque auction process

Opaque auction process of the Union government for milling pulses used in welfare schemes enabled millers to amass significant profits.

Two months after our investigations into a Rs 4,600 crore pulse scam, the government discontinued the opaque auction process that helped millers make a killing.
Centre revokes Aadhaar rule for free meal
The Collective’s investigation found that the government quietly mandated Aadhaar for children below six to qualify for nutrition benefits under the Union government’s schemes. This threatened access to subsidised food for nearly three-fourths of children in the age group.

TRC broke the story that Union government made Aadhaar compulsory for beneficiaries of supplementary nutrition programmes, this included children aged six months to 5 years. Only 23% children in this age range have Aadhaar, excluding the rest from access to food.

Though the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare quickly dismissed The Collective’s report on Twitter, and PIB Fact Check amplified their false statement without verification, our investigation led to a revised circular a month later, guaranteeing that children would not be denied nutrition benefits.

New Madhya Pradesh Law Puts 12-Year-Old Muslim Boy On Trial For Riots Damage
The Collective story revealed that a 12-year-old Muslim child has been put on trial by a riots tribunal for damage that happened during Ram Navami.
Government told to review rules on tribal rights 
The Collective’s reportage revealed that the environment ministry had been planning to dilute tribal rights over forests, making it easier for companies to take over forest land by bypassing the need for consent from forest-dwellers.

The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes ordered the government to review its new rules, which is now underway.

I would like to contribute
Only Indian citizens can donate to The Reporters' Collective.
You can change how much you give or cancel your contributions at any time.

By proceeding, you are agreeing to our Terms and Conditions. To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, please visit our Privacy Policy.
Finance
|
14 March, 2022

Eyeball Politics: How Facebook Gave BJP A Leg-Up

The Collective’s investigation found that the world’s biggest social media network systematically undercut the political competition by giving an unfair advantage to BJP in elections.

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The findings were raised in Lok Sabha by MP Sonia Gandhi

A parliamentary standing committee questioned Facebook officials on its politically motivated algorithm.

Finance
|
15 December, 2021

Modi govt’s opaque auction rules rip off govt coffers, help millers strike rich

Opaque auction process of the Union government for milling pulses used in welfare schemes enabled millers to amass significant profits.

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Two months after our investigations into a Rs 4,600 crore pulse scam, the government discontinued the opaque auction process that helped millers make a killing.

Finance
|
30 June, 2022

Centre makes Aadhaar must for free meals under Nutrition Mission

The Collective’s investigation found that the government quietly mandated Aadhaar for children below six to qualify for nutrition benefits under the Union government’s schemes. This threatened access to subsidised food for nearly three-fourths of children in the age group.

Support Us

Though the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare quickly dismissed The Collective’s report on Twitter, and PIB Fact Check amplified their false statement without verification, our investigation led to a revised circular a month later, guaranteeing that children would not be denied nutrition benefits.

A parliamentary standing committee questioned Facebook officials on its politically motivated algorithm.

Finance
|
17 October, 2022

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

The Collective story revealed that a 12-year-old Muslim child has been put on trial by a riots tribunal for damage that happened during Ram Navami.

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Our investigation into a Madhya Pradesh tribunal that put a 12-year-old child on trial for the destruction of property during communal riots was followed up by multiple media organisations. 

Finance
|
10 January 2022

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

The Collective’s reportage revealed that the environment ministry had been planning to dilute tribal rights over forests, making it easier for companies to take over forest land by bypassing the need for consent from forest-dwellers.

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The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes ordered the government to review its new rules, which is now underway.