2004Dec 26 Indian Ocean Tsunami badly  affected three states in India , Tamilnade, Kerala and Karnataka.  Tsunami left 10,000 dead and at least 600,000 either homeless or destitute on the coast of southern Tamilande state.

It claimed 170 lives in Kerala and material worth thousands of crores   Ascenefrom Nagapattinam , Tamilnade soon after the Tsunami

NCDHR conducted extensive surveys among the victims of the three states. Conducted public hearings on discrimination of Dalits in Tsunami relief and rehabilitation programs. The report raised serious questions on the effectiveness of current relief and rehabilitation programmes.

NCDHR team visited camps in Tamilande and found that the Dalit Tsunami victims were neglected   in the relief ad rehabilitation programs. They also suffered caste-based discrimination from other victims. In many places they were thrown out of   relief camps and not even allowed to collect relief materials distributed by govt and NGOs.
In Nagapattinam the worst affected area in Tamilnade municipal workers from the neighboring area were also called to unearth bodies and remove the debris. Majority of them were Dalits They were not given enough food, and accommodation and not     provided with proper equipments needed to work in such risky situations.
NCDHR teams brought these things to the attention of civil society and conducted several press conferences and sent the message across.
In Kerala some of the Dalit victims were excluded from the list of beneficiaries of the Tsunami victims.