An old man and his baton

Damodar Kashyap has ensured food, and livelihood in Bastar villages by offering them thriving forests

- BABA MAYARAM

IT’S NOT always that an individual’s initiative finds place in academic curiculum. But the Chhattisgarh government has included the life saga of Damodar Kashyap in the social sciences syllabus of class 9. This septuagenarian belongs to the Bhatra community of Sandhkarmari, a village in the state’s tribal-dominated Bastar region, where he has nurtured a sprawling forest over 240 hectares. Today, the forest ensures that people in the village are self-sufficient, have adequate groundwater and a robust community-led governance system.