As the monsoons arrive, hope blossoms in Panna's Jhalarkhamariya village. Once barren, the land is now coming alive — villagers are sowing crops like legumes, lentils, corn, and sesame across nearly 35 acres of revitalised fields. More than 20 acres had been fallow for years, and agriculture in the remaining land was limited due to rocky, uneven terrain. Children from our Bal Angans are also planting Mahua and Amla saplings along the perimeter, symbolising the community’s aspirations for food security, future supplemental income, and biodiversity preservation.

This transformation is part of a broader journey. These Gond Adivasi families, originally from Jhalar and Khamariya villages within the Panna Tiger Reserve, were relocated to Jhalarkhamariya in 2005-6. They were given land as compensation for which neither proper titles were given to this day nor was any land development support provided. Relocated families had no resources to convert the rocky, infertile terrain to any cultivable form. They became landless migrant labour for survival since their relocation and with them, their children too.

With support from Dhaatri’s Dare to Trust programme, the village took up land development and restoration of agriculture. Bulldozers had to be brought in to remove the huge boulders, rocks and overgrowth and to level the land for cultivation. A nearby water source was channelled into an irrigation tank dug by the community, which we plan to use to irrigate nearly 15 acres of land in the near future. Throughout the summer heat this year, the community worked tirelessly to build the tank and level the land, confident in the soil’s inherent fertility for successful cultivation.

We are eagerly waiting for the first crop this year and will let you all know when they harvest the multiple grains sowed. We hope this provides food security, stops seasonal migration and also ensures that children can stay back in their villages to attend school. Because, land provides not only food security but education security too. The village is appealing to the authorities for formal titles to their lands.

While Dare to Trust is a small programme that enabled us to pilot a community led restoration for sustainable livelihood, we believe that any rehabilitation programme should be implemented properly by the project proponents who displaced these communities, as it involves huge resources, convergence of development schemes and legal entitlements. There are many other relocated communities in the Panna Tiger Reserve who are still awaiting land titles and rehabilitation even after more than 15 years of being removed from their original homes. We hope their representations are being heard.