Paper short abstract:

The Pardhi Community was forced to take up nomadic way of life in search for a livelihood.In this process many of the Pardhi families reached Mumbai.It has been observed that major population of Pardhi community in Mumbai is socially, culturally, as well as spatially in a flux.

Paper long abstract:

Repeal of the Criminal Tribes Act 1952, resulted in closing of Government supervised settlements and cotton mills, attached to these settlements. This forced many de-notified groups into unemployment and extreme poverty. The Pardhi community which had already lost its original habitat- the forests, was forced to take up nomadic way of life- wandering from place to place in search for a livelihood and a base for sustainable economic activity.Those who were stressed due to loss of their livelihood, migrated for survival, to different places in Maharashtra. In this process many of the Pardhi families reached Mumbai.

The basic problems they have faced in Mumbai are related to the survival needs such as finding a sustainable source of livelihood, finding space for living, availability of water, lack of documentary evidence related to identity thereby leading to harassment by different officials. It is unfortunate and pathetic that after getting de-notified about 60 years ago, even today, majority of the people belonging to Pardhi community- have neither a place where they belong to, nor do they have any specific occupation. It has been observed that major population of Pardhi community in Mumbai is socially, culturally, as well as spatially in a flux.

This paper is an attempt to understand the identity crisis of the Pardhi community in Mumbai.