The current atmosphere demands documentation that proves the ‘validity’ of one’s belongingness. Several of the urban poor communities whom we work with, live in bastis of Bhopal who belong to Adivasi communities, De-notified tribal communities and Muslim communities. On account of poor resettlement from forests and their natural habitat, several Adivasi and De-notified communities have now settled in bastis of Bhopal.
The current atmosphere demands documentation that proves the ‘validity’ of one’s belongingness. Several of the urban poor communities whom we work with, live in bastis of Bhopal who belong to Adivasi communities, De-notified tribal communities and Muslim communities. On account of poor resettlement from forests and their natural habitat, several Adivasi and De-notified communities have now settled in bastis of Bhopal. However the communities continue to struggle with the stigmatized notions attached with their identity. For instance, De-notified tribes who were once labelled as ‘criminals’ under the colonial rule of ‘Criminal Tribes Act’ in 1871, continue to struggle with the identity of ‘criminals’ from the mainstream society as well as state-led institutions. Survival amidst the insecure ecosystem (which is not their natural habitat), denial of rights and stigmatization as ‘criminals’ make their lives manifold times more difficult. The communities are not availed of sufficient opportunities for education, livelihood alternatives and dignified life which also impacts mental health that goes unaddressed as well. Not being able to realise the welfare policies in pretext of inadequate documents make the struggle furthermore gruesome.
Denial of rights and welfare implies denial of belongingness. In order to address these multi-layered issues that make the dignified survival almost impossible for several of these communities, we engage with the communities and their respective issues around identity, dignity and survival through following subjects and modalities: