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wages to earn- the baigas, originally uploaded by Sayantan Bera.

a baiga woman works as a daily wager for the forest department in ghursibehera village in balaghat district of madhya pradesh, india.

one of india's 'primitive' tribal communities, the baiga's had a high level of dependence on forest resources for self consumption. over the years they have been pushed out of the forests and into the mainstream economy. they now depend on wage labor under the government employment guarantee schemes and those provided by the forest department.

this village ghursibehera was relocated from inside the 'critical tiger habitat' of Kanha National Park way back in the 1970s. with displacement they had not only lost their access to the forest but also a part of their culture and traditions.