How many newspapers and magazines have lost their registration across India in the past year? According to the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the figure stands at 88,000.

Official data show that 1,54,523 publications were registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI) in 2024–25. The latest figures put the number at 74,374, a decline of approximately 51.86 per cent.

The ministry has attributed the cancellation of registrations to action under Section 11 of the Press and Registration of Periodicals Act, 2023.

The contraction is striking. Although deregistration does not necessarily establish that a publication has ceased appearing, removal from the official register raises serious concerns about its future. Further changes, particularly to postal arrangements, could make survival even harder for thousands of small magazines.

Around the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the number of newspapers and magazines grew sharply, increasing by 19.52 per cent that year. The extensive use of media during elections is hardly unusual. Perhaps, however, the political demand that once helped sustain this expansion in print has since diminished.

The figures now point to a substantial decline across languages and states.

A contraction across languages

Two years ago, there were 56,052 registered Hindi newspapers and magazines. That number has fallen to 33,491. English publications have declined from 19,929 to 6,430.

Santhali, spoken in several tribal-dominated regions, has seen its registered publications fall from 23 to six. Bengali publications have declined from 5,060 to 1,162, Marathi from 10,380 to 6,664, and Assamese from 441 to 169.

The number of Kannada publications has dropped from 6,083 to 3,903. Tamil publications have fallen from 6,100 to 2,490 — a reduction of approximately 59 per cent — while Punjabi publications have declined from 1,684 to 429.

Such losses deserve attention beyond the administrative explanation for deregistration. Small publications sustain literary traditions, regional debate and reporting on communities whose concerns often receive little space elsewhere.risky

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State-wise reductions

The state-wise figures reveal a similar pattern.

Delhi once had approximately 16,400 registered newspapers and magazines. Only 4,870 now remain on the list, a reduction of more than two-thirds.

Maharashtra’s tally has fallen from 20,098 to around 10,000. In West........

© National Herald