National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights

Description

National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, NCDHR, is a collective of Dalit human rights activists and academics working to end caste-based discrimination in India. It was founded in 1998, partly in response to weak enforcement of the law protecting Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from atrocities. It is based in Delhi and works through chapters across many Indian states.

Its aims are to raise the visibility of Dalit issues, bring international attention and media coverage to their situation, and hold the state accountable for human rights violations against Dalits. It carries out this work through four campaigns: one for economic, social and cultural rights, one for the rights of Dalit women, one for land rights and legal remedies for survivors of violence, and one, National Dalit Watch, that documents caste-based discrimination in disaster relief and pushes for fairer disaster management policy.

NCDHR also builds cooperation among other Dalit-led organisations and speaks about caste discrimination to international bodies, including the United Nations and the International Dalit Solidarity Network. In 2007 it received the Rafto Prize for its work promoting Dalit rights and raising international awareness of the issue.