Issue
Denotified Tribes (DNTs) and nomadic communities continue to face deep-rooted social stigma, with limited access to essential services. Their voices are often unheard in mainstream media discourse.
How we are helping
This project aims to promote greater understanding and support for DNT, and to enhance their access to essential services, using storytelling and active participation of community journalists.
About the project
Denotified Tribes (DNTs) and nomadic communities were historically labelled as ‘criminal tribes’ under British colonial rule. Although the Criminal Tribes Act was repealed in 1949 and the pejorative removed (denotified), these communities continue to face deep-rooted social stigma, economic marginalisation, inadequate infrastructure, limited access to essential services, and threats to their unique cultural identities.
Project partner, World Comics India, will address the historical marginalisation of four denotified tribes in Rajasthan—Banjara, Kalbelia, Nat and Rajnat—by equipping community members with skills to use Grassroots Comics and community journalism as non-threatening medium for storytelling and advocacy. Through powerful visual narratives, the project will highlight the unique challenges experienced by these communities, raise awareness of their rights, and foster dialogue both within the community and with external stakeholders.
This will be achieved by:
- conducting grassroots comics workshops for 40 participants to document their culture, history and existing challenges including gender-specific issues such as girls’ education, early marriage and domestic violence
- conducting workshops on community journalism and media literacy
- printing and distributing comics in local languages and organising comic exhibitions to engage wider audiences
- publishing eight editions of a community newspaper, including two gender-focused issues developed by an all-female team.
- strengthening community leadership through training on leadership, legal rights and constitutional protections
- disseminating information on relevant government schemes (education, health, housing, livelihood) with regular updates featured in the community newspaper
- mentoring potential male and female community leaders to build their capacity to engage with local government agencies for improved service provision
- organising community-led advocacy & awareness events to showcase their culture, heritage, challenges, and achievements to the broader public, government officials, and the media.
As a result of this project, it is hoped that Denotified Tribes (DNTs) and nomadic communities have improved access to essential services and are included in policy dialogues on issues that matter most to them.
Project Partners
World Comics India (WCI) is a collective of grassroots activists, cartoonists, artists, development journalists, students, and other like-minded individuals who use comics as a powerful tool for communication and self-expression. WCI believes that comics have immense potential beyond traditional narratives of superheroes and mythology: - they can serve as accessible, impactful mediums to tell real stories from real communities. These grassroots comics are created by everyday people—rather than professional artists—and reflect their understanding of the social world.
We support people's participation in democracy and development by providing grants, platforms, and expertise.
