#Thread We @reporters_co are releasing the Coal Scam letters. Written by two MPs, now Union Ministers, this is the first evidence of internal warnings against a systemic scam in 10 years of Modi gov't.

This thread isn't just about them. It's about coal sector under Modi gov't: But before I launch into this longish thread, I first have a request.

@reporters_co has been consistently delivering investigative reportage. We are a small but dedicated team that survives on donations from its readers. To help keep us going: reporters-collective.in/support-us

#Thread Within hours of us sending a questionnaire to the Prime Minister's Office, a publicly available video was shut off.

Yesterday a transcript of the video was purged too.

Why? To know more, read on

PS: @reporters_co has made the transcript publicly available. Link at end. The video recorded a top Indian bureaucrat revealing that Prime Minister Modi breached constitutional propriety to slash funds of the states -- and financial resources that rightfully are theirs to spend. And, as worryingly, he said Center's budget is fit for a 'Hindenburg'.

#Thread We @reporters_co are making public all the documents related to the Advantage Adani Coal Investigation series. Because full transparency is the best way to keep the powerful accountable to citizens. (1/33) The investigation reveals two disturbing practices by which the government is giving away coal blocks to corporates in a dubious and discretionary manner. Adani stands to advantage from both these routes. (2/33)

#Thread We @reporters_co are releasing gov't documents behind our recent two-part investigation into the farm laws and how corporate interests played from the back.

They reveal Adani Group lobbied through Niti Aayog to lift curbs on stocking limits. Farm laws did just that. You can read the original documents and the stories here:

If you instead wish to grab a gist of the stories, please stay with me on this (longish) thread.reporters-collective.in/projects/in-fa…

#Thread: We @reporters_co are releasing the #ModifiedRice papers. These show how the Union gov't forced fortified rice upon 80 cr Indians. Despite failed pilots and internal red flags over health risks. Corporate interests played from the back.

To know more, stay with me. Before I proceed, a request: @reporters_co runs on your donations. The investigative series took months, gathering internal docs, travel to districts of Jharkhand, layers of editing, legal and fact check. Please consider donating: reporters-collective.in/support-us

#Thread: The Modi government granted an extraordinary favour to controversial tycoon Gautam Adani boosting his coal business.

Documents we @reporters_co accessed show internal discussions where top govt officials concluded Adani's coal deals were 'inappropriate'. Even the Prime Minister's Office flagged them for lack of transparency.

But ultimately, the govt decided to leave the deals untouched. While simultaneously agreeing to disallow Adani's competitors from signing similar deals.

Thread: How NITI Aayog, centre's think tank, has relentlessly opposed any relief to millions of poor Indians desperately needing subsidized food.

Documents @reporters_co accessed lay bare its constant attempts to curtail India's food security law and "radically overhaul the PDS" First, a bit about the law: Enacted in 2013, the National Food Security Act (NFSA) guarantees subsidized food to up to 75% of India's rural population and up to 50% of the urban population. Each right-holder is legally entitled to 5kg of low-cost foodgrain every month.

#Thread: We @reporters_co are releasing the #CarbidePapers today.

They show how Indian governments (of all shades) knowingly helped Union Carbide, killer of over 15,000 people in Bhopal, continue its business in India for years through shell firms. While escaping prosecution. My colleague @Kum_Sambhav and I took about two months to piece together the evidence. It all began when we first heard from a source about some internal documents of Union Carbide sitting in the US courts.

#Thread: In MP's Khargone, a 12-year-old Muslim child has been put on trial before a tribunal especially set up by the government under a new state law.

The boy has been accused by his neighbours of looting & damaging their property during the communal violence on Ram Navami. They filed a complaint against him asking for damages before this tribunal.

Thread: Target Mohammed Zubair and Harsh Mander.

Get some off-record opinion from the Solicitor General of India. Bend rules creatively.

A story of how to grab power and hold on to it interminably under Modi government 👇 In Aug and Sept 2021, the Women and Child Development Ministry amended a bunch of rules. To decide who could head (1) the National Commission for Women and (2) the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

It was perfectly timed.

#Thread: Environment, Courts and the Modi government

On Sunday a news outlet put out a prominent six-column news article.

On a report Niti Aayog commissioned. This report indirectly takes a pot shot at the judiciary for the rare occasions it stands up for environmental law. Now let me tell you the real story: How Niti Aayog cherry-picked cases to blame Supreme Court for 'judicial activism'. Based on personal opinions of the Aayog's then CEO.

And, how the entire study was a sham.

Thread: Opaque Electoral Bonds & the Supreme Court's bizarre sealed cover.

We just cracked open the infamous SC sealed cover holding information on parties which earned from Electoral Bonds. Let me tell you how and why @reporters_co felt it was necessary. Stay with me. Please. Introduced in 2017, Electoral Bonds are financial instruments that allow any Indian, corporate, NGO and foreign entities to donate unlimited amounts of money to political parties under complete anonymity from citizens.

#Thread: On WHO Covid excess death projections and the Union government's dubious arguments against it. A recently released WHO report has concluded that India's Covid-19 death count is nearly 10 times the official toll. The government has tried to discredit the data -- saying the new estimates “may stretch to the limits of absurdity.”

How tonnes of pulses meant for India's poor and armed forces were siphoned off for profits of a few.

A story that involves rigged auctions, bad quality food, state apathy and, of course, a healthy dose of corruption.

A thread: Govts when supplying pulses to citizens under schemes like Mid Day Meals or PMGKAY need to first pick millers to process the raw pulses.

There's a simple way to do this: Select the miller who'll charge you the least to get the job done.

Modi govt chose an opaque system instead

SCOOP | Govt signed a shady deal that sold vehicular data of entire country to a company for cheap. This firm developed an entire business model based on this data and earned crores in revenue.

This happened 5 yrs before a policy to share the same data!

thewire.in/government/mod… With this, the privacy of crores of Indians was compromised.

Strangely, the sale of bulk data was based on a proposal from the firm itself! The firm, Fast Lane Automotive, has been using the data to develop auto tech solutions and has global clients.