Among the 18 million street children in India are the children of many marginalized nomadic tribes. In 1871, the British enacted the Criminal Tribes Act, which notified certain tribes as “criminals”, regardless of the activities of individual members. The Waghri (or Vaghri) and Sikligar Sikh tribes, with whom we work, were two such groups of adivasis.

It was not until 1952 that these tribes were ‘denotified,’ rescinding their criminal label. However, many of these tribes were not included as Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes or Other Backward Classes, and thus not recognized by the government to receive support.

At Ashraya, we are working towards educating these tribes and empowering them to be included in the mainstream society.