The policy towards the tribal population has been under intense scrutiny in the past few days post the incident of killing a foreign national in sentinel islands.

Tribal panchsheel policy :-

Jawaharlal Nehru’s Tribal Panchsheel were the guiding principles after Independence to formulate policies for the indigenous communities of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

• He formulated the following five principles for the policy to be pursued vis-a-vis the tribals:
• People should develop along the lines of their own genius, and the imposition of alien values should be avoided.
• TribaI rights in land and forest should be respected.
• Teams of tribals should be trained in the work of administration and development.
• TribaI areas should not be over administered or overwhelmed with a multiplicity of schemes.
• Results should be judged not by statistics or the amount of money spent, but by the human character that is evolved.

Andaman and Nicobar islands regulation :-

• Based on the above principles, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation (ANPATR), 1956 was promulgated by the President.
• This Regulation protected the tribals from outside interference, specified the limits of reserved areas and said no land in a reserved area shall be allotted for agricultural purposes or sold or mortgaged to outsiders.
• Those violating the land rights of the tribals were to be imprisoned for one year, fined Rs.1,000, or both. Despite this, there continued to be constant interactions between the tribals and settlers/ outsiders.

How Andaman and Nicobar islands regulation has helped in the protection of indigenous tribals :-

• In 2005, nearly 50 years after it was promulgated, the ANPATR was amended.
• The term of imprisonment as well as the fine were increased.
• However, in the years in between, the Andaman Trunk Road had already ensured increased interaction with the tribals.
• In the case of the Jarawas, this had led to the spread of diseases, sexual exploitation, and begging.
• Similarly, a policy for protecting the Shompen tribes was released only in 2015.
• However, in spite of the 2005 amendment, videos of commercial exploitation of the Jarawas in the name of “human safaris” were widely reported in the media.
• Following this, the government amended the ANPATR yet again in 2012, creating a buffer zone contiguous to the Jarawa tribal reserve where commercial establishments were prohibited, and regulating tourist operators.
• Despite all these amendments and provisions, there continue to be numerous reports of civilian intrusion into the Jarawa tribal reserve.

Way forward:-

• Recently the government relaxed the restricted area permit (RAP) for 29 islands in the Andaman and Nicobar, including North Sentinel Island. If the government has decided to ease the restrictions in a phased manner, this could adversely affect the indigenous population in the long run. Such commercialisation of tribal spaces could lead to encroachment of land. This needs to be avoided.
• Considering the significance of the indigenous tribes of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the government needs to reorient its priorities towards protecting them from outside influence.
• India needs to sign the 1989 convention of the ILO, and implement its various policies to protect the rights of the indigenous population.
• It should also make efforts to sensitise settlers and outsiders about them.