Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

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Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

ThePrint’s Praveen Jain wins Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award

Nehru's blunders to Salman's RSS invite—what landed in ThePrint’s inbox this month.

This month, the Readers’ Editor column is devoted to mail I have received over the last few months from readers.

Before I do so, here’s a piece of good news: Praveen Jain, National Photo Editor, ThePrint, has just received the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award, 2026. In a 44-year-long career, many of Jain’s news photographs have made news—or shown us what words don’t always convey as poignantly. 

His RNG-winning photo essay, ‘Stuck in time — no mobile network, river & jungle only route to Indo-Nepal border villages’, is another example of his ability to convey a ground reality through his photographs. 

Jain, along with Senior Assistant Editor Apoorva Mandhani, was on assignment to assess the conditions in villages adopted by members of Parliament. An informal conversation with a senior Uttar Pradesh police officer led Jain to Bharthapur village on the India-Nepal border.

“He told me about this village, and how cut off it was from the world,” recalled Praveen Jain. “I thought it made for an interesting story.”

It did indeed, but reaching Bharthapur proved to be a life-threatening experience.  The reporters had to cross a river – the only route to the village. “We were told there could be crocodiles in it. Neither Apoorva nor I can swim, so we were relieved when we reached land,” added Jain.

Their relief was to be short-lived. The police warned them that wild elephants and tigers roamed along the route to the village. “It was pretty hair-raising,” Jain added.

Once they reached Bharthapur, they were astonished by what they found.

“The villagers live in a different world completely—no mobiles, I don’t think they had TV either. The nearest hospital was at least 40 km away—across the........

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