Musahar Community

The Musahars are a Scheduled caste, populating the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and Terai Nepal, also known as Banbasi and Pasi. In Bihar, the word Musahar is said to be derived from Mus, a local and Sanskrit word for rat. Traditionally rat-catchers, who provided for security in rice granaries, there is uncertainty regarding their origin. They speak in Bhojpuri but many have a grasp over Hindi as well. They no longer engage in rat-catching and are now mainly landless agricultural laborers often going without work for 8 months at a time, along with constituting as one of the most marginalized groups in India.

NEG-FIRE Intervention Presence: West Champaran, Patna, Madhubani and Gaya districts of Bihar.