Rajnish Gambhir

Work area: Lakhimpur Khiri District, Uttar Pradesh

Rajnish has been a key member of Tharu Adivasi Mahila Mazdoor Kisan Manch working in Dudhwa National Park Area, Lakhimpur Kheri district of eastern Uttar Pradesh for over a decade.

The Tharu Tribe community lives in 50 villages of Dudhwa National Park area. Tharu tribe is an ethnic group indigenous to the Terai, the southern foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal and India. Sangathan has a glorious history of working among the tribe and successful achievements over forest rights. Sangathan had set precedence on forest rights in core area of National Park. After long struggle by the sangathan, the rights of forest dwellers (Tharu tribes) living in the core area of Dudhawa National Park were recognized by the state. Working mostly with the women leadership in the area, the sangathan is giving new dimensions in the forest rights movement by creating alternative model of community forest governance through collective effort.