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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Hela of India

The Hela of India, numbering approximately 60,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a Scheduled Caste community found across West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, also known as Mehtar and Bhangi. Traditionally sweepers and scavengers, they are now also in mat-weaving and government service They are an Indigenous people, with Hela as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Hindi people cluster of the South Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Folk Hinduism. They primarily speak Hindi.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 Michael E Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Hindi
Primary Language(s): Hindi (hin)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Hinduism
Population: 60,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041836
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Pray for the Hela of India

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

98%
%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Hindi
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%

Media Resources in Hindi:

Films:

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Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Hindi:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Hindi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Expanding Unreached People Group, (LPI: 2), 0.5% to 2% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Hela:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Hela are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Hela:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Hela are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Hela:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Hela of India

O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
readPsalm 10:17-18

Pray that God, in accordance with His good character, will give justice to those who are oppressed by sin and that they will know that His offer of salvation is for everyone.

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.
readPsalm 22:27-28

Pray that entire families will turn to the Lord in repentance and faith, and that they will worship Him and declare His righteousness to the nations.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
readPhilippians 1:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be assured that God will complete the good work He has begun in them until the day of Christ's return.

For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
readActs 13:47

Pray that as people come to faith, they will follow the Lord's leading to go to their neighbors and share the treasure they found in Christ.

Hela Across Countries (ROP3 - 112219) reported in the following countries:

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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