[2][3] Nishads, according to Badri Narayan is a term denoting various communities whose traditional occupations has remained water-centric including sand dredging, Boating and Fishing.

), Nishad Kalyan Sabha, Maharaja Nishadraj Guhya Smarak Samiti were some of the organisation based in Uttar Pradesh which are hosting numerous Ekta Rally (unity conferences) to unify these caste groups.

[4] In 2001, the writer E.S.D Bind argued that various subcaste of Nishad community together comprises 18% of the population of Uttar Pradesh, which were instrumental in affecting the electoral politics of the state.

As a result, various political parties pitched for having a share of this large vote bank by manipulating the legends of mythical heroes of the community in a way to suit their agenda.

Their Gaurav Gathas or tales of glory features Maharishi Kalu (Guru of Narada), Nala, Damayanti, Matasyagandha as well as Ved Vyas (the composer of epic Mahabharata) as members of Nishad caste.

This Sanskritizing attempt couldn't rule out the criminal reputation of Mallaah and other water centric communities which formed the basis for classification in colonial census.

The classification of some of the low caste (who were considered as uncivil) in one of the aforementioned category could lead to exclusion of whole community from government jobs including military, police and administrative services.

[6] The process of equating caste with occupation was though considered as misleading now, as by the late 19th century the Mallaah and its sub-castes were moving towards cities and were getting employed as labourers in the burgeoning weaving industry.

[6] According to Bernstein who documented the introduction of steamboat on the Ganges, the control of river's navigational route was very important for the British colonizers for transport of raw materials and revenue proceeds from the countrysides to urban centres.

This policy had both social and economic implication for the Nishad community members who would leave their homes for long period of time to work under East India Company as wage labourers, transporting their riches.

[9] In the 1990s, with the rise of Lalu Prasad Yadav in Bihar, de-elitizing of politics took place which made it an affair of masses, specially the lower castes.

They replaced the upper caste gangsters in high value organized crimes like automobile theft, Timber logging, Kidnapping, smuggling and contract killing.

The middle class, the upper caste criticised the breaking down of the tradition of liberal democracy while the OBCs supported the status-quo as the erstwhile system didn't ensure them freedom and dignity even after four decades of independence.

After she surrendered, the state government under Mulayam Singh Yadav ensured her release and also gave her ticket from the Mirzapur constituency as the Samajwadi Party candidate.

[11] The Bahujan Samaj Party which symbolised the Dalits, thus started associating itself with Eklavya, another folk hero of the community who being highly talented was discriminated by a Brahmin guru.

[11] In 2020 "Nishad", a character in the movie Article 15 was played by Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub which was said to be inspired by the founder of Bhim Army, Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan.