Unveiling Dalit Perspectives: Displacement in Informal Settlements in Delhi

Background and Purpose: According to India's 2011 census data, roughly 28 percent of the urban Dalit population resided in informal settlements, highlighting that one in every three Dalits in cities lived in these precarious conditions. This problem is especially prominent in Delhi, the capital city, where 27 percent of the total Dalit urban population resides in informal settlements. Dalits, formerly known as ‘untouchables’ are a historically marginalized and oppressed community within the Hindu caste system, facing social marginalization, economic vulnerability, and housing instability. Dalits in the cities are often confined to informal settlements where they confront poverty and marginalization while remaining vulnerable to evictions that leave them homeless and with severe socio-economic consequences. These conditions prevent them from building a sense of belonging essential for fostering community identity and allowing collective action to address local problems like evictions. Surprisingly, despite the gravity of this situation, there is a significant gap in research examining the effects of evictions on Dalit individuals in informal settlements. Thus, the project aimed to fill this gap by addressing the following questions: a) What are the socio-economic experiences of Dalit individuals facing evictions in Delhi’s informal settlements? and (b) How do the experiences of evictions affect the sense of belonging among the Dalit residents of Delhi’s informal settlements?

Methods: Qualitative interviews and an Interpretive Phenomenological Approach (IPA) were utilized to delve into the first-hand experiences of Dalit individuals facing displacement in Delhi's informal settlements. Six semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted across two informal settlements in Delhi, India. Eligibility criteria included being a Dalit community member and having experienced forced eviction. The analysis involved several steps, including reading and re-reading transcripts, initial noting, theme development, searching for connections across themes, examining patterns across cases, and deepening interpretations.

Findings: Four themes emerged from the findings: starting anew, reliance on informal caste networks, distrust in the state, and feeling like an outsider. The respondents recounted losing their homes and belongings after eviction, exacerbating their poverty. They turned to their friends and family members within the caste group to rebuild their houses, seek new employment, find new sites to live, and borrow money. Respondents commonly expressed feeling like outsiders, believing that the state would never fully accept them due to their caste identity. There was also widespread distrust in the state's resettlement options and a sense of targeting by authorities due to caste identity.

Conclusion and Implications: The project findings offer a deeper understanding of the impact of evictions on marginalized communities living in informal settlements. The findings can help propose tailored interventions to offer immediate relief, rehabilitation, and adequate compensation to minority communities like the Dalits within informal settlements. Ultimately, the study holds policy implications for promoting bottom-up approaches to enable community engagements and collaborations with residents of informal settlements. Such collaborations could also empower residents to advocate for their rights and participate in the decision-making process concerning housing and urban development in the city.