In what appears to be a bizarre misuse of public funds, the Ministry of Education has approved a one-month internship programme for Sudarshan News under its Indian Knowledge System (IKS) initiative for 2025–26.
Yes, taxpayer money – meant to nurture research and scholarship – will now bankroll 100 interns at a channel infamous for “bhujiya jihad”, “UPSC jihad” and communal conspiracy theories. A channel whose editor-in-chief Suresh Chavhanke himself faces multiple hate speech cases.
Titled “One-Month Journalism Internship on Reporting Indigenous Knowledge Tradition through Broadcast and Print”, the programme falls under the IKS’s so-called “Edutainment Sciences” theme. Interns will be paid up to Rs 10,000 each, with Sudarshan News itself pocketing Rs 5,000 per intern for operational costs – that’s at least Rs 15 lakh in support for 100 interns.
The irony is blinding.
Among the 79 selected projects, the rest hosted by IITs and reputed universities, Sudarshan News stands out as the sole media house to be greenlit among the total 372 applications received.
This is despite IKS guidelines specifying eligibility only for NGOs or trusts “solely working in the research and education related to Indian Knowledge Systems”. How exactly Sudarshan News, which the NBSA has repeatedly found guilty of violating broadcast standards, qualifies under this definition is a question the ministry has yet to answer. The organisation, after all, is better known for hate speech and fake news than any contribution to knowledge, and its work has been described by even the Supreme Court as “rabid”.
Newslaundry has sent a questionnaire to the IKS National Coordinator seeking clarity on the vetting process. This report will be updated if a response is received.
This story was originally published in newslaundry.com. Read the full story here.
