The Gadia Lohars, a nomadic community originally from Chittorgarh district in Rajasthan, live in over 90 bastis or informal settlements in the National Capital Region of Delhi (Delhi NCR). They live on the pavements or along the roads, with the constant threat of forced eviction. They earn their livelihood by making and selling iron tools, utensils and other implements.The Gadia Lohars – “an extremely marginalized and impoverished community,” according to this report – set up the Gadia Lohar Sangharsh Samiti (GLSS) with the assistance of the Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN), a Delhi-based research and advocacy organisation. GLSS held meetings with community members in late 2018 to discuss housing, education, employment and forced evictions. Given the lack of data on the Gadia Lohars, HLRN and GLSS did a survey of members from the community living in 58 bastis in Delhi between February and March 2019. They enumerated Gadia Lohar settlements, documented living conditions, and tried to understand the challenges in accessing housing and government entitlements. This report presents the findings of the survey.
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