The Kol tribals of Uttar Pradesh have a hard time earning their living. Mostly landless and without residential rights, the Kols are largely relegated to breaking stones in quarry mines. At other times, they venture into the woods to collect twigs and barks and sell them in the market.
The camera captures a member of the community walking back home after gathering woods in the Trans-Yamuna region of Allahabad. According to the Kols, they often face much harassment at the hands of the forest department officials, who have put restrictions on the use of forest produce, and influential caste persons as well.
Generally, they require permission to plant or use trees such as neem, amla and mahua . Their predicament maybe stemming from the fact that though the Kols are ethnically tribal, they have been accorded the Scheduled Caste status in Uttar Pradesh.
Traditionally being forest dwellers and without a designated forest area, they feel robbed of their basic rights.
