Anugrah Pandi Lepcha is a research scholar in the Department of Social Work, Visva Bharati University Santiniketan and social worker, specialising in Green Social Work – an integrated study of the interdependence of both man and nature upon each other.
With the world seeks to move towards holistic development with the principle of “leave no one behind”, indigenous communities and their narratives are essential to be recorded, heard, acknowledged and shared. Anugrah’s research seeks to explore the indigenous knowledge of the Lepcha community residing in the foothills of the Himalayas regarding the conservation of ecology. Her study is an amalgamation of stories echoed and carried by the winds of the mountains along with an academic outlook on the same.
Other than her deep love for indigenous knowledge as a social worker she has had extensive opportunities to work with various government departments and projects, organise community programmes and undertake group work practices with women SHGs and children. Though the focus of her study has primarily been rural communities, working with children as a school social worker, in an anti-trafficking NGO and interning as a psychiatric social worker in a medical hospital primarily as a counsellor, has helped Anugrah broaden her horizon.