We work with Dalits and Tribal people

"Because we are Santhals (a Tribal group) the government officials didn’t used to listen to us.

We couldn’t even open bank accounts.

And they wouldn't dig wells where we needed them, but where it was cheapest and easiest for them to do so." Muklu Tudu, India

Read about how we are supporting Muklu Tudu to change her situation.

Discrimination against Dalits

Despite the fact that India's caste system was officially abolished in the 1960s discrimination against people from the 'lower castes' is still very much around.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the case of the Dalits, who were considered lower even than the caste system itself. Known as "untouchables", they were forced to do the most menial jobs such as cleaning latrines and sewers by hand.

Today, in rural areas, they still stuggle to find decent employment and lack access to the most basic services, such as water, education and healthcare.

Discrimination against Tribal people

For thousands of years, many of India's 700 Tribal (adivasi) communities have lived in the forest and dependedon it for their survival.

Now, with deforestation and forests being opened up for industrialisation and tourism, tribal people have been alienated from their ancestral lands.

However their poor status in society and lack of education means that it is very difficult for them to challenge the land evictions and to find other ways to earn a living.

What we are doing

We are empowering Dalit and Tribal people to have a voice in their society. As a result they are effectively calling on state and national government to tackle the root causes of their poverty. Read more.

For example, with our support, Tribal people successfully called on governments to pass a forest rights act, which stated their right to dwell on their land. In 2009, thanks to the lobbying efforts of our partners, the state government of Uttarakhand promised to implement this act. Read more.

Watch this video to learn about how we are supporting tribal women in Jharkhand:

Read more about who we work with.