Draft policy on tribals to be sent to Cabinet

Under pressure from different social groups and tribal organisations, Ministry of Tribal Affairs will send the draft policy to the Cabinet for its approval.

The Draft National Tribal Policy which stresses on social, economic, linguistic and cultural development of tribals to bring them to the main stream, will be sent for Cabinet approval soon.

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Under pressure from different social groups and tribal organisations, Ministry of Tribal Affairs will send the draft policy to the Cabinet for its approval.

The proposed draft policy, prepared after wide-ranging consultations, incorporates suggestions on social, economic, linguistic and cultural development of tribal so that they were at par with rest of the people in the country by 2020, a senior ministry official said.

The policy is aimed at providing an environment conducive to the preservation of traditional and customary systems and regime of rights and concessions enjoyed by different ST communities and reconciliation of modes of their socio-economic development.

It would also help in reducing and removing the gap in the Human Development Index (HDI) of the tribal population and their general counterparts. It would also prevent alienation of land owned by STs and restore possession of wrongfully alienated lands, the official said.

The policy would also facilitate translation of the constitutional safeguards into reality, with simultaneous socio-economic development, protection and vesting of rights of STs on forest lands and other forest rights, including ownership over minor forest produce, minerals and water bodies through appropiate legislations and conservation of all forest villages into revenue villages.