E-Paper
AU Prof to study condition of Andaman tribes
HEAD OF Allahabad University's Department of Anthropology Prof VS Sahai will visit Andaman and Nicobar Island in October to observe the condition of the tribes in the islands.
HEAD OF Allahabad University's Department of Anthropology Prof VS Sahai will visit Andaman and Nicobar Island in October to observe the condition of the tribes in the islands.
Prof Sahai has been made a member of the Scientific Expert Committee formed by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest to investigate the status of forest and allied affairs in the islands.
Andaman and Nicobar islands are home to some of the fast-vanishing aboriginal tribes of the world. Few of the tribes are isolated and remain untouched with the outside world while most of them have accepted the social changes occurring in the rest of the world. Four Negrito and two Indo-Mongoloid races of tribes exist in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Great Andamanese, Onge, Jarawa and the Sentinelese belong to the Negrito race while the Indo-Mongoloid group tribes include the Nicobarese and the Shompen.
"The survival of these tribes is the main issue as their population has reduced to an alarming extent. The government and several welfare organisations are continuously attempting to inculcate the sustainable means of living but the uncompromising attitude of few of the tribes have brought them on the verge of extinction," informed Prof Sahai.
"The government has built homes, roads, jetties and several instruments of civilisation in the islands.
The confrontation of these primitive tribes to the new world has also desecrated the traditions of these tribes. The Jarawa tribe which is one of the most primitive tribe has been affected by the Great Andaman Road passing through their places of habitation. The Jarawa tribe peoples were reported to have adopted the habit of begging and stealing instead of their inherent character of hunting for survival", he added.
According to Prof Sahai a commission was formed by Ministry of Environment and Forest to check the status of forest and other allied matters in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The commission was headed by Shekhar Singh who filed his report recently.
The Ministry of Environment and Forest has formed a Scientific Expert Committee to check the feasibility of Shekhar Commission report. The five-member committee includes Emeritus Prof CR Babu from School of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi, PC Kesavan from Department of Atomic Energy, former Chief Conservator of Forests, Government of Tamil Nadu S Kondas and KV Raju from Institute of Social and Economic Change, Bangalore besides Prof Sahai.
The committee will stay in Andaman and Nicobar Islands from October 26 to November 7 and observe the ecological degradation and condition of the tribes in the island.
