Growing up in a nomadic Banjara family, Paras Banjara witnessed how the absence of land, identity documents and access to government systems could turn everyday needs into lifelong struggles. Today, through Olakhaan Trust, he is working with Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic communities to strengthen access to identity, rights, dignity, education, culture and community leadership.
For Paras, social work was never a career he consciously chose one day. It grew from his own life experiences.
He comes from the Banjara nomadic community, whose history is deeply connected with trade, transportation and movement across regions. Banjara communities played an important role in carrying goods and connecting different parts of the country, while developing a rich cultural heritage of their own.
Paras’ family was once involved in salt trading and work connected with livestock. As these traditional livelihoods gradually disappeared, the family was pushed towards daily-wage labour. From childhood, Paras saw how the absence of a permanent home, land, identity documents and access to government systems could make even basic necessities difficult to secure.
His experience of education was also shaped by being part of a nomadic community. He encountered different forms of treatment and discrimination, but education gave him an opportunity to understand a world beyond his immediate circumstances. Over time, he realised that many people in his community were facing the same barriers he had witnessed growing up.
That understanding drew him towards social work. Paras reflects, “If I have received certain opportunities in my life, I should use them for those who have been left furthest behind by the system.”
From Experience to Action
A significant turning point came when Paras worked with the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan. There, he saw ordinary people use information, public hearings and social accountability to demand their rights.
He became closely involved with social audits, transparency and accountability, while also developing a deeper understanding of public participation and grassroots politics. The experience changed how he understood social change.
He realised that marginalised people do not always need someone to solve their problems for them. Often, they need information about their rights, access to systems and the confidence and opportunity to make their voices heard.
When Paras later began working with Denotified and Nomadic Tribes, he encountered another fundamental challenge: many communities were almost invisible within government systems.
Without permanent addresses, land records, caste certificates or proof of residence, people could struggle to access welfare schemes and basic entitlements. Changes in laws and policies had also affected several traditional occupations, leaving communities disconnected from livelihoods that had once been central to their identity.
Nomadic communities have historically depended on grazing lands, common resources, forests and other shared natural spaces. Yet many families today face displacement and are sometimes treated as encroachers on land where they have lived or worked for generations.
As traditional livelihoods and cultural practices decline, communities also face limited political representation and a weakening of their collective voice. These experiences eventually led Paras to establish Olakhaan Trust in 2018.
Making Identity More Than a Document
“Olakhaan” means identity. But for Paras, identity goes far beyond an Aadhaar card or any other document. It means having a recognised place in society, knowing one’s rights and being able to live with dignity.
Olkhan works with nomadic, denotified, Dalit, Adivasi and other marginalised communities on identity, dignity, land rights, documentation, education, access to government schemes, women’s issues, social justice, livelihoods, culture and youth leadership.
In Rajasthan’s Rajsamand and Bhilwara districts, the organisation is working with DNT communities on land and identity rights. Village libraries are also being developed for children and young people, while advocacy and policy work continues with governments around the rights of nomadic communities.
Paras’ approach begins with listening. Instead of deciding solutions from outside, he believes in sitting with communities, understanding their realities and finding ways forward together.
When a Land Patta Means Security
Land rights have become one of the important areas of Olakhaan’s work. In some villages of Rajsamand and Bhilwara, DNT families had lived on land for years without legal ownership documents. Olakhaan worked with families to understand their circumstances, collect necessary documents, navigate applications and engage with the administration.
This process often requires persistent follow-up. A day may involve sitting with families in a village, while another may be spent visiting a panchayat or tehsil office. For a daily-wage worker, every government office visit can mean losing a day’s income.
With the support of the administration, including the district collector and local officials, progress has been made. So far, 42 families across three villages have received land pattas, while efforts continue for others. More than 1,000 people have also received identity documents through these efforts.
For Paras, however, a land patta is more than paperwork. It provides families with security, recognition and a stronger sense of belonging to the land where they have lived for years.
He also believes that the comprehensive development of DNT communities requires a dedicated policy framework addressing their land, livelihoods, education, identity, culture and rights.
Building Leadership Within Communities
Paras believes lasting change cannot depend on an organisation being present forever. This is why youth leadership and village libraries are central to his vision. He wants libraries to become spaces where children and young people read, discuss the Constitution, understand their rights and engage with issues affecting their communities.
He also wants young people to look beyond employment preparation and develop an understanding of social justice, citizenship and constitutional rights.
For Paras, one of the strongest measures of impact is when people no longer need an organisation to approach authorities for them.
If a person can submit an application, question an official and speak confidently about their rights independently, he considers that a greater success than simply resolving one individual problem.
Challenging Invisibility
Many of the challenges facing DNT communities begin with social and administrative invisibility. Without permanent addresses, families can struggle to obtain ration cards, caste certificates, pensions, education and other government services. Families living on land for generations may still lack the documents needed to establish their rights.
Social prejudice adds another layer. For Paras, solving these problems therefore requires more than helping people obtain paperwork. It requires changes within systems as well as a shift in how society views nomadic and denotified communities.
His work has taught him the importance of patience and collective action. A problem faced by one family may affect hundreds of others. Bringing people together can transform an individual difficulty into a broader rights-based demand.
Most importantly, Paras believes communities should not be treated simply as beneficiaries. They know their own problems best. The role of social organisations, he believes, is not to fight on their behalf forever, but to stand alongside them and strengthen their ability to fight for themselves.
The Logical Indian Perspective
Paras’ journey shows how lived experience can become a foundation for social change. Having grown up within a nomadic community and witnessed exclusion firsthand, he chose to work on the very barriers that shaped his understanding of inequality.
Through Olakhaan Trust, his work is not only about securing land pattas or identity documents. It is about making marginalised communities visible within systems while helping people understand and assert their own rights.
The numbers are significant: 42 families have received land pattas and more than 1,000 people have secured identity documents. But Paras measures success by something deeper: whether people eventually have the confidence and knowledge to approach the system themselves.
His larger vision is one where people do not remain beneficiaries seeking assistance, but stand as citizens with an identity, a voice, a culture and rights of their own.
Can empowering communities to understand and assert their rights create more lasting change than simply delivering solutions to them?
If you’d like us to feature your story, please write to us at csr@5w1h.media.
