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• Shifting cultivation based livelihoods in Northeast India are hardly sustainable. • Sustainability of such livelihood options vary significantly across Northeastern states. • Social and financial capitals are pivotal to shifting cultivation based sustainable livelihood. • Livelihood diversification, market access and extension services enhance sustainability. Rural livelihood has long been discussed in scientific literature, although livelihood sustainability of fringe communities in far-flung and disadvantageous areas is very scarcely researched. Jhumias of the hilly and remote Northeastern (NE) region of India represent such a fringe community which is dependent upon shifting cultivation and forest resources for livelihood. The present study examines livelihood sustainability of these underprivileged forest peasants within the scope of sustainable livelihood framework. An indicator based approach helped in developing a composite measure, called the sustainable livelihood index (SLI) which gives a fair idea about the extent of livelihood sustainability of the shifting cultivator households in the study area. The study was carried out with randomly drawn six hundred and twenty one shifting cultivator households (n = 621) from the 'seven sister' states of NE India, namely Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. The findings of the study brings into light an immense vulnerable picture of shifting cultivation based livelihood in the region. Except for Mizoram, the other states had a minimum of 39.22 percent (in Manipur) and up to as high as 86.67 percent (in Assam) shifting cultivator households belonging to the very bottom stratum of livelihood sustainability. Social and financial capitals were the most important to bring sustainability in the livelihoods of shifting cultivators. The study specifically highlights the importance of livelihood diversification, improving market access and strengthening extension contacts for livelihood sustainability of these ethnic groups of peasants. In light of the findings, we suggest some policy measures within the scope of prevailing socio-cultural beliefs of the shifting cultivators for sustainable livelihood, environmental conservation and harmonic co-existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]