Archive · 17 Sep 2026
Reporter’s Idamalakudi Series Wins Third Rural Reporting Award
R Samban is a journalist who visited Idamalakudi, a remote tribal area in Kerala.
The area is surrounded by dense forest and has very few roads.
People may need to walk for hours to reach a hospital, school or government service.
Six-year-old Karthik died after being carried through the forest for medical treatment.
Pregnant women and children face especially difficult journeys.
Many families also worry about wild animals, poor soil and changing ways of earning a living.
Samban wrote a series called “Half-Bloomed Wild Flowers” about these experiences.
He also showed the community’s strength, traditions and hopes.
The Statesman gave him the Third Prize in its 2025 Rural Reporting Awards.
Journalist R Samban received The Statesman Awards for Rural Reporting 2025 Third Prize for his coverage of Idamalakudi.
His series, “Half-Bloomed Wild Flowers,” examines the isolation of Kerala’s only tribal panchayat.
Six-year-old Karthik died after a five-hour forest journey and referrals between health facilities.
Only two of Idamalakudi’s 10 anganwadi centres function, while ambulances cannot reach every settlement.
Samban’s reporting documents both the Muthuvan community’s hardships and its dignity, resilience and aspirations.
- Who
- Journalist R Samban and the Muthuvan tribal communities of Idamalakudi.
- What
- Samban reported on isolation, poverty, inadequate infrastructure and community resilience in Idamalakudi, earning the Third Prize in The Statesman Awards for Rural Reporting 2025.
- When
- The award was presented as part of The Statesman Awards for Rural Reporting 2025; the articles do not specify when the reporting or award ceremony occurred.
- Where
- Idamalakudi, Kerala, in the Western Ghats of India.
- Why
- The reporting examined how poor roads, forest isolation and limited services affect healthcare, education, livelihoods and access to basic services.
- Reporter
- R Samban, a journalist with more than 33 years of reporting experience
- Award
- Third Prize, The Statesman Awards for Rural Reporting 2025
- Series
- “Half-Bloomed Wild Flowers,” published in Janayugom Daily
- Community
- Muthuvan tribal settlements
- Area covered
- Nearly 106 square kilometres of dense forest
- Child’s death
- Six-year-old Karthik died before reaching Adimali Taluk Hospital after being carried through the forest
- Anganwadi services
- Two of Idamalakudi’s 10 anganwadi centres function