KARACHI: Wearing colorful Lahnga and green color tattoos on her face, with a heavy silver ornaments in her neck, Sawantari is preparing dinner for her family in a small size hut, located in a huge-sized tent-slum on the Pakistan’s busiest road, the Super Highway in outskirts of Karachi. She belongs to Bagari community, an indigenous community of Sindh’s Hindus, which are known as experts in vegetable farming. She and her family were once used to wander in different parts of Sukkur and working on the fields of different landlords to grow vegetables. Devastating floods in 2010uprooted her family from Sukkur and they came to Karachi. She and her family are not alone as there were thousands who came to Karachi after the flooding and started living in the makeshift tents at the vast scattered slum. They are illiterate, poor and have no other skills to use them and earn in city like Karachi. Majority of them are not official citizens, as they don’t have Computerized National Identity Cards (CNICs), so they don’t have the right to vote, which means they are not registered on government record, therefore they are out of most of the government schemes. There is no water supply scheme in their colony, no school or any healthcare facilities. Half-naked, barefooted children are seen there playing games without toys, instead of going to school. Today , the world is celebrating United Nations (UN) International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples and for this year, the UN has devoted the day to the right to education to these communities. The right of indigenous peoples to education is protected by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which in Article 14 states that “Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their educational systems and institutions providing education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning.” “We are unable to feed our children, how can we think of educating them?” Sawantari told Daily Times. The Goal 4 of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ensures equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations. But it seems, the most vulnerable, the poor and indigenous communities are not government’s agenda. Sindh is home to several indigenous communities such as Sami, Jogi, Machhla, Dalaa, Gola, Shekaari, Kabootra, Barha, Gawaaria, Kolhi, Hadwaal, Rawar (primitive hunters) and Raybaari communities. These communities are extremely poor and are not represented by any leader from their community, due to which they face a large number of problems in their everyday life. However, Special Assistant to Chief Minister Sindh on Minorities Affairs, Dr Khatu Mal Jeevan has said that the newly-formed Sindh cabinet is planning some special programmes for the education of these communities.