Jyoti Yadav Among Recipients at The Statesman Rural Reporting Awards 2025
Jyoti Yadav, independent journalist and member of the Network of Women in Media, India, was awarded the Second Prize in The Statesman Awards for Rural Reporting 2025. She won the award for her in-depth reporting on illegal sand mining and illicit liquor business in rural Bihar.
The citation commended her stating, “In an immersive investigation, Jyoti Yadav shows how illegal sand mining and illicit liquor have reshaped the social and economic life of rural Bihar. The Print reporter showcases a nondescript village in Aurangabad, where life starts after sunset and ‘activities’ finish by daybreak. Unusual as it may sound, in reality the illegal sand and liquor business is now the stepping stone to success and riches. Through vivid reporting from villages along the Sone river, Yadav reveals how unemployment, political patronage and weak enforcement have allowed illicit economies to become embedded in everyday rural life. She also shows how caste lines dictate controls in illegal mining and liquor hubs.”
The prize winning story: The story of Bihar’s two mafias—sand and booze
Read more about her reporting below:
Congratulations, Jyoti!
