NT-DNT communities in Muzaffarpur
Nomadic Tribes and De-notified Tribes (NT-DNT) are communities that colonial law listed as criminal in 1871. The law was repealed in 1952, but the label stayed. It still affects whether these families can rent a room, enrol a child in school, or be treated without suspicion at a health centre.
We have started working with NT-DNT communities in Muzaffarpur, with women who have been left out of most services meant to include them.
We want women there to live with better dignity, health and hygiene. We also want the younger generation to see what else is possible: different careers, different skills, options that are actually open to them.
This work is at an early stage. Resource persons are helping us understand and map the community, its context and the issues involved. We are planning a baseline survey to record the real challenges, needs and resources, so that later work has something solid behind it.
