Rural Awakening….. Rural Media

Gangaram, a resident of Maniyarpur village in Bela mandal of Adilabad district, faced a major challenge in reaching his farmland. A stream lay across his path, forcing him to take a long detour. Despite repeatedly appealing to local government officials, his problem remained unresolved. Refusing to give up, the 80-year-old Gangaram single-handedly constructed a cable bridge over the stream using old electric wires. Today, not only Gangaram but also other farmers have access to their fields.

Kranti Nagar habitation lies 80 kilometers away from Kothagudem. There lives a 70-year-old man named Sodi Ganga, who has never worn footwear or a shirt. Whether in scorching heat or rain, he continues his agricultural work in the same condition. The reason is poverty. After his story was documented through a video, the government machinery responded. Sushanth from Hyderabad, developed a battery-powered tractor that does not require diesel, petrol or a driver. It can perform multiple farming activities—from planting to weeding and spraying fertilizers and operates at a lower cost compared to diesel tractors.

Banothu Raju from Mandamarri near Mancherial once worked in the Singareni coal mines. In 1997, he lost his left hand in an accident and subsequently his job. He then started farming on his 3 acres of barren land. With just one hand, he planted 140 mango saplings and teak trees around them. He also cultivated paddy on one acre. Today, he grows two crops annually, earns Rs 1.5 lakh per year from mangoes, and expects to earn in crores soon from the matured teak trees.

Stories like these—of inspiration, innovation in agriculture and local knowledge of rural communities—are being presented on the YouTube channel “Rural Media.” This channel is run by journalist Shyam Mohan, who received the Best Digital Media award. Shyam Mohan initially worked as a cartoonist. Later, he worked in the editorial departments of Telugu newspapers and also served as a freelance reporter for BBC Telugu.

How rural media started:

He recalled that once while working in a reputed media organization, during an editorial meeting he opined that the organization’s reputation would increase by writing article about remote areas where there is no drinking water, no doctors, and no basic facilities like anganwadi schools; but the response was that stories which bring advertisements revenue need to be given importance

“After some time, I left that media company and traveled towards the tribal hamlets of Bhadrachalam. For two days, we survived on whatever food was available, stayed under trees, and documented the struggles of women for drinking water. That video received over 3.2 million views. Whether it changes the world or not, it helped us understand whom journalists should stand for. Following this, some NGOs came forward to address the issues”, he recollects.

About the ‘Rural Media’ YouTube channel:

Observing that mainstream media gives limited importance to issues of tribal communities and farmers, Shyam Mohan  became an independent journalist in 2009 and started documenting rural life through documentaries and case studies. To bring the problems of remote populations into the spotlight, he and his team launched the “Rural Media” YouTube channel in 2015.The channel has traveled to over 120 villages across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, presenting ground-level stories and working towards solutions by bringing them to the attention of authorities. Currently, the channel has 54.8K subscribers, with 850 videos uploaded and over 9,278,536 views.