Preamble

The Global Girmitiya Lineage Archive & Searching Centre (GGLASC) Madhubani is a vital initiative in Bihar and India. It is a section of the Mahavir Singh Memorial Trust,
an NGO founded on November 28, 1992, in honour of Indian freedom fighters. The NGO focuses on education, healthcare, women and child welfare, support for
deprived communities, and assistance to the relatives of freedom fighters. Now it also extends its mission to the Global Girmitiyas, who, after the abolition of slave
labour, were often misled or coerced into indentured contracts, leading to mass migration from Bihar and other regions of India to European colonies. Only one-third
returned after their contracts ended. By 2025, their descendants are estimated to number over 10.2 million across former colonies.

Key Historical Context

Between 1834 and the early 20th century, approximately 1.2 million indentured labourers were sent from India to Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. Due to incomplete
migration records, many family ties remain lost between descendants in India and abroad.GGLASC aims to digitally and socially reconnect these families worldwide.

Key Migration Destination:

Mauritius: 450,000; British Guiana (now Guyana): 238,000; Trinidad and Tobago:147,000; Suriname: 34,000; Jamaica: 36,000; Fiji: 60,000; South Africa (Natal):152,000; Malaysia and Burma (Myanmar): 250,000; Reunion: 26,000.

Mission Statement

GGLASC is committed to preserving, researching, and sharing the history of the Girmitiya diaspora. This includes digitising records, offering genealogical support,
and fostering global collaborations to reconnect descendants with their ancestral roots, that is their birthright.

In this regards, we are inspired by the 2025 January 9th Speech of Indian Prime Minister: “ Why not we prepare a data-base of our Girmitiya brothers and sisters.
They went from which village and town, where they settled, those places should also be identified. How their life was? How did they converted challenges into
opportunities?… there should be study on Girmitiya Legacy…I will tell my team to explore these possibilities and work to bring it forward
.
Friends, today’s India is moving on the Mantra of ‘Vikas Phi and Viraat Bhi”