Document Abstract
Vulnerable people (VP) lack in access to resources, development benefits, such
as education, health, infrastructure and basic means of livelihoods. They are
considered disadvantaged in comparison to other groups in relation to access
to resources and other entitlements. VP, such as women, person with disability,
people living with HIV/AIDS, sexual minorities, poor migrants, Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes often face numerous discrimination. One such
vulnerable group known as Birhor, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group
from the Chhattisgarh state of central India, is the focus of this article. The
main purpose of the article is to look into their livelihood complexities in the
contemporary period. This article is an outcome of an ethnographic fieldwork
among Birhor, in Umaria Dadar Tribal settlement, Kota block of Bilaspur
District, Chhattisgarh. The article draws its inferences based on both primary
and secondary data. The primary data is collected from the study area by using
different anthropological tools and techniques. The secondary data is gathered
from the Birhor Vikas Abhikaran (Birhor development agency), Bilaspur, and both
published and unpublished reports of the government and civil society agencies,
and other sources. The article looks into the inherent intricacies of livelihood
approaches and vulnerability looking at the vicissitudes of livelihoods of Birhors.
The major finding of the article is that Birhor people are slowly and steadily
moving towards a settled life from their traditional life of hunting and gathering.
They are accepting now the new sociocultural lifestyles in the study area.