Ram Bahadur Rai is an Indian journalist and the former news editor of Hindi daily ''

Jansatta Indian Express Limited (IEL) is an Indian news media publishing company. It publishes several widely circulated dailies, including ''The Indian Express'' and ''The Financial Express'' in English, the '' Loksatta'' in Marathi and the ''Jansatta ...

''. He has published and authored and edited several of books. He is known for some impressive biographies, written in Hindi, namely ''Shashwat Vidrohi Rajneta'' based on life and acts of Gandhian socialist Acharya J. B. Kripalani, ''Rahvari ke Sawal'' on

Chandrashekhar Chandrasekhar, Chandrashekhar or Chandra Shekhar is an Indian name and may refer to a number of individuals. The name comes from the name of an incarnation of the Hindu god Shiva. In this form he married the goddess Parvati. Etymologically, the nam ...

and ''Manjil se Jyada Safar'' on V P Singh. He was a close associate of the Indian freedom fighter and political leader

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan Srivastava (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), also known as JP and ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian politician, theorist and Indian independence activist, independence activist. He is mai ...

and was also part of a Steering Committee of JP Movement. In January 2025, Shri Ram Bahadur Rai was conferred with India's third-highest civilian award, the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

Early life

He was born on 1 July 1946 in Sofonari . He got his early education at his native place and nearby Machhti Inter College. For higher education he moved to

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

and completed his graduation from

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU), formerly Benares Hindu University, is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916. The university incorporated the Central Hindu College, ...

. He got his postgraduate degree in economics from BHU. He obtained PG diploma in mass communication from Rajasthan University. In the year 1965 on the behest of central government academic council of BHU proposed to drop 'Hindu' word from the name of the university. Ram Bahadur Rai led a student movement to oppose this move which was shelved after rising protest. However Ram Bahadur Rai was expelled from the university for leading the protest. To continue as a regular student an apology was asked by the university administration but Rai refused. As a result, he couldn't complete his Ph.D. in economics. Being the organising secretary of

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is a student organization in India, registered as a Non-governmental organization (NGO) in 1949. It's a significant student union with over 5 million members, making it one of the largest student or ...

Ram Bahadur Rai led the student movement during JP movement.

Career

Ram Bahadur Rai started his career as journalist with Hindustan Samachar. He wrote eyewitness account of

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

for Hindi Daily ''Aaj'', published from

. Later on he moved to Delhi and started working journalist with Hindi daily ''Jansatta''. At Jansatta he worked as Bureau Chief and News Editor. For a short span of time he worked as special correspondent for

Navbharat Times ''Navbharat Times'' (NBT; ) is a Hindi newspaper distributed in Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow and Kanpur. It is from the stable of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd (BCCL), which also publishes other dailies including ''The Times of India'', ''The Economic ...

also. At present he is working as group editor of Hindusthan Samachar. In the year 2015 Government of India appointed Ram Bahadur Rai as the president of Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) executive committee.

First person to be jailed during emergency

Rai was the first person to be jailed, in 1974, under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act,(MISA). This act was passed by the Indira Gandhi government in 1973, giving dictatorial powers to law enforcement agencies, and repealed by the subsequent Janata Party Government in 1977. He was again jailed for eighteen months.

Organiser of JP movement

Ram Bahadur Rai served as one of the key member of the steering committee of JP movement. Rai played an important role during student movement of 1974. It was Ram Bahadur Rai under whose leadership students' leaders of many organisations met JP and requested him to lead the movement.

Books Authored

* Shaswat Vidrohi Rajneta Acharya J.B. Kripalani, National Book Trust, 2016. * Bharatiya Samvidhan: Ankahi Kahani (The Untold Story of India's Constitution), Prabhat Prakashan, 2021. * Rahbari ke Sawal (Sakshatkar with

), Rajkamal Prakashan, 2018. * Manzil se Zyada Safar, Rajkamal Prakashan, 2006.

Position held and awards

* He was awarded

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

, the fourth highest civilian award of India, in 2015. * Patron, Integrated Talent Development Mission (ITDM) * President of the 20 member board of Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA). * Madhavrao Sapre National Journalism Award * Manikchandra Vajpayi National Journalism Award * Bhagwandas Journalism Award * Satyagrahi Samman * Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rai, Ram Bahadur Living people People from Ghazipur Indian male journalists Hindi-language journalists Indian editors 20th-century Indian journalists Journalists from Uttar Pradesh 1946 births Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature and education