SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITION OF NOMADIC AND DE-NOTIFIED TRIBES OF MAHARASHTRA

Nomadic and De-notified Tribes (NT-DNT) are one of the most marginalized communities in India. Lack of constitutional safeguards, social stigmatization and criminalization attached to their identities make them prone to violence and vulnerable in every walk of life. Nomadic and De-Notified tribes are wandering communities who move from one place to another in search of fulfillment of their basic needs. Because of their wandering tradition, the Nomadic and De-notified tribes have no permanent residence. As result, they do not get decent housing and have to live their life on vacant spaces and move on to next nomadic cycle. Despite being “De-Notified,” these nomadic groups continue to face severe discrimination and ostracism. They are still perceived as social outcasts by upper-caste villagers, unduly harassed by the police and enforcement officials and are effectively ignored by the Indian State. Due to this constant wandering, they do not get respect from the rest of the society which results in undignified life.Literature review shows that, very limited researchers and organizations have focused on studying socio-economic condition of nomadic and de-notified tribes. There is lack of comprehensive study carried out on Socio-economic condition of nomadic and de-notified tribes of Maharashtra. Though there are fewer efforts to analyze socio-economic condition of DNT, there is not enough and comprehensive data on the same. Therefore this study attempts to fill this gap. In absence of livelihood opportunities in the face of globalisation, the DNTs are not in position to develop their socio-economic condition and at the same time the response of their socio-economic condition is very poor. Therefore it is important tostudy the socio-economic condition of DNTs.