Dear Reader,

Bodoland’s 21 traditional products received GI tags in 2024, offering formal recognition to their origins, craftsmanship and cultural depth. The process revived endangered dishes, fading folktales, and musical instruments that had long survived only through the oral tradition. Weaving styles such as Dwnaha, Jwmgra and Gamsa, Endi silk, the sacred kham drum, and ethnic foods like Ola and Narzi were documented with historical, ecological and cultural evidence, strengthening community identity and affirming the region’s ancestral knowledge systems.

The GI initiative is motivating artisans, farmers and musicians to restore disappearing skills while adopting authorised-user registration and QR-based verification to secure authenticity and traceability. मैं भी भारत reports from Kokrajhar in Assam that despite the GI tagging, many products still struggle to scale because production is slow, labour-intensive and dependent on seasonal resources. Limited marketing capacity and poor market linkages further restrict their commercial potential. Even so, Bodoland shows how community-led effort, supported by institutions, can turn cultural preservation into sustainable opportunity and inspire similar revival models across tribal regions

A five-judge Constitution Bench, led by Chief Justice B. R. Gavai, issued a unanimous advisory opinion in response to a Presidential Reference made by President Droupadi Murmu. This came after the controversial Tamil Nadu Governor judgment, where the Court had imposed fixed timelines for the Governor and President to act on bills, and even “deemed assent” under Article 142. The Court now ruled that those findings were incorrect. Governors have discretionary powers under Article 200 and are not strictly bound by the advice of their Council of Ministers. Moreover, neither Governors nor the President can be legally forced to follow strict timelines to assent to bills, and courts do not have the authority to “deem assent.”

Supreme Court Observer points out that the Court also held that the actions of the Governor and President under Articles 200 and 201 are not justiciable in the way previously thought—the process is meant to be a dialogue, not a judicial exercise. Still, it recognised that extremely prolonged or unexplained inaction could draw limited judicial review — courts may issue directions to act reasonably, without second-guessing the merits of their discretion. Finally, while the Governor has immunity under Article 361, the Court said this does not block courts from examining whether his inaction violates constitutional duties.

Observed on November 21, World Fisheries Day in Kerala comes on the cusp of the upcoming local-body elections in December, drawing attention to the persistent neglect of fisher communities. Keraleeyam Masika argues that despite three decades of “people’s planning”—which aims to decentralise power to local self-governments—traditional fishers remain largely marginalised. Major infrastructure projects like port expansions, coastal highways, and blue-economy initiatives are perceived to have damaged marine ecosystems while failing to address fishers’ welfare.

The story argues that a ‘coastal sub-plan’—a dedicated scheme with funds reserved exclusively for the social and economic upliftment of fish workers, without risk of lapsing or reallocation—is urgently needed. It also argues that if the fishing community wants to influence the political discourse and favourable policies, it should mobilise as an independent electoral force, ensuring their voices are heard and their rights protected in local governance.

The Kashmir stag, or hangul, is a critically endangered subspecies of Central Asian red deer found only in Jammu and Kashmir. Once thousands strong, its numbers fell to 127 in 2008 and have risen to 323 in 2025, though the figure is unconfirmed. Despite this seeming recovery, the species remains at grave risk: an extremely low sex ratio of 12.6 males per 100 females signals inbreeding, while poor fawn survival leaves it vulnerable to genetic collapse, with even a single standalone disease capable of wiping it out.

Ground Report visits Dachigam National Park, one of the hangul’s last habitats, to understand the pressures pushing it toward extinction. Cement factories around the sanctuary bring noise, smoke, and human disturbance, while pastoralists add grazing pressures. As lower areas degrade, hangul have moved to upper slopes, where altered snowfall patterns and increased exposure to predators like leopards further threaten them. Surrounded by mounting pressures, their survival will depend on strong state-led conservation efforts.

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

Warmly,

Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF