some points on the policies made by the indian government for trible people
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Answer:
NATIONAL POLICY ON TRIBALS (DRAFT)
For the first time after the country became Independent, the Government of India is
proposing the formulation of a National Policy on Scheduled Tribes.
The policy seeks to bring Scheduled Tribes into the mainstream of society through a multi-
pronged approach for their all-round development without disturbing their distinct culture.
There are 67.8 million Scheduled Tribe people, constituting 8.08 per cent of India’s
population. There are 698 Scheduled Tribes spread all over the country barring States and
Union Territories like Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Pondicherry and Punjab. Orissa has the
largest number – 68--of Scheduled Tribes.
Scheduled Tribes are those which are notified as such by the President of India under Article
342 of the Constitution. The first notification was issued in 1950. The President considers
characteristics like the tribes’ primitive traits, distinctive culture, shyness with the public at
large, geographical isolation and social and economic backwardness before notifying them as
a Scheduled Tribe. Seventy-five of the 698 Scheduled Tribes are identified as Primitive
Tribal Groups considering they are more backward than Scheduled Tribes. They continue to
live in a pre-agricultural stage of economy and have very low literacy rates. Their populations
are stagnant or even declining.
The Constitution through several Articles has provided for the socio-economic development
and empowerment of Scheduled Tribes. (You may list the provisions here, if necessary). But
there has been no national policy, which could have helped translate the constitutional
provisions into a reality. Five principles spelt out in 1952, known as Nehruvian Panchasheel,
have been guiding the administration of tribal affairs. They are:
1. Tribals should be allowed to develop according to their own genius
2. Tribals’ rights in land and forest should be respected
3. Tribal teams should be trained to undertake administration and development without too
many outsiders being inducted
4. Tribal development should be undertaken without disturbing tribal social and cultural
institutions
5. The index of tribal development should be the quality of their life and not the money
spent
Realising that the Nehruvian Panchasheel was long on generalities and short on specifics,
the Government of India formed a Ministry of Tribal Affairs for the first time in October
1999 to accelerate tribal development. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is now coming out with
the draft National Policy on Tribals. Based on the feedback from tribal leaders, the concerned
States, individuals, organisations in the public and the private sectors, and NGOs, the
Ministry will finalise the policy.
The National Policy recognises that a majority of Scheduled Tribes continue to live below
the poverty line, have poor literacy rates, suffer from malnutrition and disease and are
vulnerable to displacement. It also acknowledges that Scheduled Tribes in general are
repositories of indigenous knowledge and wisdom in certain aspects.• · Transfer such knowledge to non-tribal areas
Health:
Although tribal people live usually close to nature, a majority of them need health care on
account of malnutrition, lack of safe drinking water, poor hygiene and environmental
sanitation and above all poverty. Lack of awareness and apathy to utilise the available health
services also affect their health status. In wake of the opening of tribal areas with highways
industrialization, and communication facilities, diseases have spread to tribal areas.
Endemics like malaria, deficiency diseases, venereal diseases including AIDS are not
uncommon among tribal populations. However, lack of safe drinking water and malnutrition
are well-recognised major health hazards. Tribals suffer from a deficiency of calcium,
vitamin A, vitamin C, riboflavin and animal protein in their diets. Malnutrition and
undernutrition are common among Primitive Tribal Groups who largely depend upon food
they either gather or raise by using simple methods. The poor nutritional status of tribal
women directly influences their reproductive performance and their infants’ survival, growth
and development.
Tribal people, who are self reliant and self-sufficient, have over the centuries developed
their own medicine system based on herbs and other items collected from the nature and
processed locally. They have also their own system of diagnosis and cure of diseases. They
believe in taboos, spiritual powers and faith healing. There are wide variations among tribals
in their health status and willingness to access and utilise health services, depending on their
culture, level of contact with other cultures and degree of adaptability.
Against this background, the National Policy seeks to promote the modern health care
system and also a synthesis of the Indian systems of medicine like ayurveda and siddha with
the tribal system.