Dear Reader,

Climate change is increasingly menacing, with its ill effects on the ground—tangible and lived. In Madhya Pradesh, premature precipitation before the onset of the monsoons has led to truncated ‘tendu’ leaves, significantly smaller than their normal size, with discernibly lower quality and maturation.

This directly impacts the livelihoods of the collectors, as their remuneration is based on the size and quality of the leaves. The collectors, largely Adivasis, have to venture deeper into forests and work longer hours for below-subsistence wages. Ground Report goes to Khari village in Madhya Pradesh to investigate how climate change is impacting over 3.5 million tendu leaf collectors in Madhya Pradesh—over 40 per cent of them women.

In Odisha, climate change has exacerbated the frequency, extent and intensity of forest fires. Each year, a profusion of small fires blaze through the forests, each more destructive than the one before—4,500 hectares burnt down this year, up from 4,000 last year. Unfortunately, many of these fires are human-induced, inadvertent, and entirely avoidable. For instance, when forest dwellers set the leaves under a mahua tree on fire to make it easier to collect the pale yellow flowers, a traditional practice, they accidentally set off a chain of fires that spread rapidly, are more difficult to contain, and are increasingly getting out of hand.

Faced with this dire situation, the Odisha Forest Department has taken an innovative approach to spreading awareness about forest fire prevention. They have requisitioned the services of traditional cultural troupes, ‘Sankirtan Mandalis,’ with a history dating back to the 15th century and a dying art form, largely women-led, to spread the messages through ‘music, drums, and a dash of devotion.’ The troupes spread the message of behavioural change through songs and performances in the local language to keep the fires at bay. The Migration Story reports that while the effort is still in its early stages, it has begun to sow the seeds of change with a ‘20 to 30 per cent decrease' in forest fire incidents in areas where the Sankirtan Mandalis are active.

In Jharkhand, implementation of the Panchayats Act, 1996 (PESA), a constitutional obligation remains incomplete, nearly three decades after its enactment. This is despite 13 of the state’s 24 districts falling under the Constitution’s Fifth Schedule—specifically designed to ensure cultural preservation and autonomy of tribal communities in these designated areas.

While the delays, largely due to political reasons, have significant implications for the Adivasis, they also affect the Sadaans—settled, non-tribal communities, with longstanding historical and cultural roots in Jharkhand. मैं भी भारत explores the Sadaan identity, their claims to the land, and their relationships with Adivasi communities. As Jharkhand tries to operationalise PESA, debates around representation, land rights, and democratic participation between Adivasis and Sadaans are critical to the deeper questions of social justice and governance in the state.

Last month, two custodial deaths within a week in Bihar’s Araria district raised serious concerns, particularly because both victims were from marginalised communities. The first victim, a convict serving a life term, died under unclear circumstances, with the family alleging criminal negligence, while the police cited chronic illness as the cause. In the second case, a person who was rearrested in a 13-year-old case, allegedly died by suicide in custody, a claim that his family strongly contested.

मैं मीडिया reported on similar patterns in 2022, documenting at least six such deaths between 2020 and 2022. The recent back-to-back incidents have led to demands for a judicial inquiry, especially amid rising custodial deaths in Bihar—from 159 deaths in 2020–21 to 237 fatalities the year after, according to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. After मैं मीडिया’s reports, political parties petitioned the Additional Chief Secretary of Bihar’s Home Department, demanding urgent inquiry, accountability, and action.

For more such stories from the grantees this week, please read on.

Warmly,

Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF