TIRUCHY: In the deep heartlands of Tamil Nadu’s forests, a silent struggle has been playing out for decades — one of survival, identity, and recognition. While the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act was passed in 2006 and notified in 2007 to correct historical injustices, its implementation remains a distant dream for many. Seventeen years on, the state of Tamil Nadu still lags behind, and the voices of its tribal communities continue to be stifled.
Dr Aruna Basu Sarkar, a retired Indian Forest Service officer, has been a rare voice persistently advocating for these marginalised communities. With over 30 years of service across various roles — from District Forest Officer to Principal Chief Conservator of Forests — she has witnessed firsthand the systemic negligence and exploitation faced by tribal people from middlemen, government departments, and even local politicians.
“When forests were declared reserve areas, the traditional rights of forest dwellers were never documented. The law aimed to correct this, but in Tamil Nadu, it has remained mostly on paper,” Aruna explained. What’s worse, even now, neither the English nor the Tamil edition of the law has been made widely available by the nodal agency — the Tribal Welfare Department.
According to Dr Sarkar, the biggest misunderstanding among forest and revenue officials is equating forest rights with land ownership. “Most of these forest-dependent communities are landless. What they need is community forest rights — like the right to collect forest produce, graze cattle, or pursue traditional forest-based occupations,” she emphasised.
She also raised concerns about how the Joint Forest Management (JFM) programme, introduced in 1997 as a participatory forest management initiative, ended up becoming a tool for exploitation. “It turned into a system where forest officials and former contractors used tribal labour as bonded labour. These so-called Tribal Village Committees created under JFM have only made things worse,” she alleged.
In her extensive fieldwork between 2010 and 2018, Dr Sarkar visited over 250 tribal villages across the state. Her findings painted a grim picture — from the denial of community certificates to genuine tribes to the failure of departments in recognising and implementing basic rights. Despite repeated letters and reports to higher authorities, no concrete action was taken.
Unwilling to give up, Dr Sarkar founded the Nivedita Foundation in Tiruchy after her retirement in 2018, along with a group of like-minded retired forest officials. The self-funded non-profit has taken up the mission to both support and empower tribal communities.
In February 2025, the foundation published a Tamil handbook titled Vana Urimai Angeekaram (Sattam) 2006 — Vazhikaatti Kaiyedi, co-authored by Dr Sarkar and J Elangovan. The book not only translates the Forest Rights Act into Tamil but also serves as a practical guide for officials and tribal communities alike to understand and implement the law.
Beyond advocacy, the foundation has been actively organising free medical camps in partnership with Aravind Eye Hospitals in Madurai and Puducherry. Over 200 tribal people have undergone cataract surgeries, and more than 500 have benefited from eye screenings and treatment. The foundation has also distributed essential groceries in severely poverty-hit tribal areas.
One of the foundation’s ongoing concerns has been the long-pending issue of community certificates for tribal groups living at the Palani foothills in Dindigul. “Without these certificates, they are cut off from every form of government support — education, jobs, housing, and more. It’s an identity crisis,” Dr Sarkar said.
Through the Nivedita Foundation, Dr Sarkar’s fight continues — not from within the forest department, but from the ground, alongside the very people she once served to protect. Her journey serves as a reminder that justice delayed is indeed justice denied — but it can still be reclaimed, one step at a time.
(Edited by Subhalakshmi PR)