The Cockroach Janata Party protests over the NEET examination scam in May 2026 struck a chord with those who had complaints about other entrance examinations administered by different government agencies.
I can say this with some authority: Since July, the Readers’ Editor mailbox has filled up with messages from irate aspirants. It makes for sad reading.
‘Regarding discrepancy in recent FMGE June exam and request for grace marks for all video-based questions.’
‘Urgent: FMGE 2026 Irregularities – Request for Media Coverage of Ongoing Hunger Strike.’
‘URGENT: 70,000+ EMRS Aspirants Waiting 160+ Days for Tier-II Results.’
‘Request for Media Coverage on the Prolonged Delay in Declaration of EMRS TGT Recruitment Examination Result.’
‘Breaking Public Interest Issue – EWS Eligibility and Recruitment Controversy at RPNLU, Prayagraj.’
‘Request for Independent Media Investigation into Alleged Recruitment Irregularities, Labour-Practice Concerns and Third-Party Payroll Issues at Sify Technologies in MP.’
If they are correct, these paint a painful picture of our education system.
However, I’m glad readers of ThePrint shared this with us. The feedback helps us to understand what matters to them and address their concerns where possible: Readers are ThePrint’s ears to the ground.
Also read: What ThePrint readers write to us about—and how we respond
Readers’ mail
This month’s Readers Editor column focusses on readers’ mail.
Besides complaints about the way entrance examinations are conducted, readers wrote about the state of the world, the nation – and their own lives.
They have requested coverage on many issues which they think deserve our attention – they are insistent that we write about them. Failing that, they have taken matters into their own hands and submitted their articles on these topics.
Let’s look at a few requests.
One reader wrote in with a ‘Request for Independent Media Investigation into Alleged Recruitment Irregularities, Labour-Practice Concerns and Third-Party Payroll Issues at Sify Technologies in MP’.
Then we were asked to write about ‘The Oppressed Muslims of India Await a Muhammad Bin Qassim From Amongst the Armies of the Muslims’.
Another reader was in a musical frame of mind: ‘Request coverage Seattle musicians bring Madhubala’s story to life through nonprofit musical experience.’
Others were worried about pressing matters nearer home: ‘Request for news coverage of “poor road” in my village.’
There are mail friends who write to the Readers’ Editor frequently. One of them is very persistent: every few days, he sends updates on a court case he has filed against a telecom company, asking ThePrint to “investigate”.
Dear reader, it’s impossible for ThePrint to examine individual, personal complaints.
Also read: Readers have the last word at ThePrint. Keep sending us your mails
General observations
Another category of mail falls into what I would call general observations.
For instance, I received, “An Open Letter from a Citizen of the Country to the Honourable President, the Respected Prime Minister, and the Honourable Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India” regarding the writer’s dire professional circumstances.
Then, a regular correspondent, who is interested in all things Tamil and writes in a distinctive style of his own, which I have come to recognise, sent me this on domestic violence: “Editors, other Authorities, Dinamalar / தினமலர் + Dinamani /தினமணி – Leading Tamil Daily Newspapers : – Ji, – please do your kind but immediate HELPs – in the below important matter – to protect the Genuine Innocent persons – from – the False Mode complaints….’’.
Some readers draw attention to their mail with EXCLUSIVE’’ written in the subject line: EXCLUSIVE: PMO & President’s Office Both Intervene in Telangana Police Misconduct Case — A Documented Cover-Up That Went All the Way to Rashtrapati Bhavan’. This was followed by a detailed memo on the case. Fascinating.
One reader was very upset:
“It is very regretful to inform you that The Viral Fever (TVF) productions has been causing trouble to its Panchayat web series viewers. They are uploading one season of Panchayat on AMAZON PRIME VIDEO website only once in a year…’’
Well, sir, I enjoy watching Panchayat too and wish it would go on forever like daily TV serials, but quality shows require much more production time. Think of it this way: We have another season to look forward to in 2027.
Bollywood has annoyed another reader: In a mail, he referred to it as, “A Sexist, Body-Shaming, Misogynistic, and Anti-Woman Industry …’’. He named male actors who appeared on The Kapil Sharma Show, who, according to this reader, insulted actresses … on a family show which is seen in every household these days”.
Let me end this section with the most cryptic message that landed in my mailbox one morning:
‘H TT TT t se 44 res duty Dr 24’.
Also read: Dear readers, ThePrint has heard you — We now offer you a login-based, ad-lite experience
Submissions
Many readers have sent in articles for publication, and even though I have pointed out time and again the difficulty we have in publishing their pieces, the numbers only increase with time.
Here is a sample of the topics they write on: “Why the Recent Balochistan Train Attack Matters for Pakistan”; The Gen Z Win Exposed How We Reach Our Own Government’; “You Don’t Need to Leave Your Life to Find Your Depth”; 17 Bills, 14 JPCs – What Changed in Modi 3.0?’; For Abhijit Dipke: Op-Ed Submission — Doubling India’s Education Budget; ‘The Quantified Scholar: Integrity in the Age of Algorithmic Output’; “The Women India Continues to Ignore”; and “Why India is misread in the West — and whose job it is to fix it”.
Also, “And It’s Gandhi Even for the GenZ”.
At least one reader sent in a short story she had written. I explained to her that ThePrint doesn’t publish fiction.
Also read: ThePrint at 8. Readers are evangelists, critics, and asserting their ‘right’
Complaints about ThePrint
We have received our share of complaints about ThePrint. One favourite target is the Opinion section.
A reader sent in an angry mail on this article by TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose.
He wrote: “I would like to contest all the arguments that have been peddled by Didi’s TMC,” and ended by saying, “Nobody has forgotten what the TMC did in Meghalaya so please stop this pontification.”
For the record, ThePrint publishes all shades of opinion. We hope that helps readers arrive at their own informed viewpoints.
Our coverage of the protests led by CJP also came in for criticism.
“For the last several days, I have been keenly watching your video coverage and reportage on the cockroaches going on riot. The impression I get is that ThePrint team seems to think that this is some kind of spectator sport and the team are the cheerleaders. I do not see the tall claims of unhyphenated journalism loudly touted by Mr. Shekhar Gupta….,” wrote a reader.
Specifically, he was annoyed by what he felt was the unsympathetic coverage of Delhi Police.
I have read ThePrint’s coverage of the protests for a Readers’ Editor column and found it reflected the situation on the ground.
ThePrint’s reporters witnessed the police action as it happened – and its aftermath.
The Readers’ Editor also came in for some flak in this mail:
“I read your readers editor column of last week with interest today. I was at first happy to see the subject and thought yes, the print is finally going to acknowledge how it came to publish a fabricated Bezos quote. But no.
“Indeed, the print is going the way of many other media outlets that started prioritising low quality aggregated and copy pasted articles instead of the journalism that gave them their reputations…What a waste of a brand and what sorry death throes journalism is having in general.”
I replied by thanking him for his views and suggesting that reports on the death of journalism were premature.
Frustration with advertisements in the middle of stories and continuing technical problems with access for subscribers are also in the mailbox: “How can I access my “The Print” subscription, i paid for ₹5000/yr. There is no “login” page for subscribers,” complained a reader.
I know these login issues and advertisements can be irritating and frustrating – and I have raised them with my colleagues to make your reading experience smoother. We will keep improving.
Readers are vigilant – that’s my reading of them. They catch us out on the smallest of errors.
Here is one sardonic reader: “I noticed the poor proof reading on the captioned of vidios and otherwise. Like today’s news item video i.e. Women pilots join India strikes in Pakistan It is wrong. It should be – Indian women pilots Air Force strikes on Pakistan. If you ever intend to hire me for the job let me know.” (Italics mine)
Thank you, sir, we may well take you up on that.
Well, that’s it from me and from the readers. See you next month.
Shailaja Bajpai is ThePrint Readers’ Editor. Please write in with your views and complaints to readers.editor@theprint.in
(Edited by Prashant Dixit)