Nishad
The Nishad are a Hindu caste, found in the Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
In Bihar, the term refers to a group of around 20 communities whose traditional occupations centred on rivers, such as the Mallah. There have been demands for these communities to be reclassified from Other Backwards Classes to Scheduled Tribes.
In Uttar Pradesh, the Nishad are among 17 OBC communities that have been proposed for Scheduled Caste status by the Samajwadi Party-controlled Government of Uttar Pradesh. However, this proposal, which relates to votebank politics and has been made in the past, has been stayed by the courts; a prior attempt was also rejected by the Government of India.
