​BAIGA |Achanakmar Tiger Reserve, Chhattisgarh

Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) are indigenous peoples who have been identified as having particularly low development indices by the government of India.

The Baigas are one of about 75 PVTGs. They live in parts of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. The mother tongue of the Baiga people is ‘Baigani’ – from which the original linguistic roots seem to have disappeared over time. Their traditional dressing too, has disappeared.

The Landing Together team visited the Achanakmar forest in Chhattisgarh state, Central India, which has been the home of Baigas for a long time. The designation of the forest as a tiger reserve has led to the displacement of the Baiga people, leading to grave habitat loss and food insecurity for the indigenous community.

Traditionally, the Baigas practice Bewar – a form of shifting cultivation and led a semi-nomadic lifestyle. The reason behind their reluctance to practice sedentary farming according to them, is that cultivating the same piece of land is akin to scratching the mother earth and weakens her.

​Having been displaced from the forest and alien to conventional agriculture, they now rely on monthly subsidized calorie grains from the Public Distribution Shop. The kodo millet, along with Non-Timber Forest Produces (NTFPs), used to be their staple diet. Now, their indigenous food – like the indigenous mushroom called ‘Pihri’ – has turned into  ‘superfood’, which is sold to local traders for meagre returns. 

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