National Policy introduced for holistic development of tribals

New Delhi, July 21 (UNI) For the first time a National Tribal Policy was made for the welfare of the Scheduled Tribes (STs) in an integrated and holistic manner in the country.

Releasing the draft policy the Minister of Tribal Affairs and DONER P R Kyndiah said the proposed policy will address the issues such as enhancement of human development index (HDI) of STs, improvement of infrastructure in STs dominated areas, ensuring their control over the natural resources base, displacement from their habitat and resettlement, distribution of wealth and opportunities among tribals and their empowerment.

He said India has embarked on the path of 8-9 per cent annual economic growth and opportunities are expanding for improving living standards, the Government is alive to the need that the tribal community gets all opportunities and that an enabling environment is created to improve their socio-economic conditions.

Mr Kyndiah said the objective of the policy is to bring STs at par with rest of the population in terms of their HDI, socio-economic conditions and basic infrastructure facilities in tribal areas. The policy provides for regulatory protection, socio-economic and political empowerment, development of infrastructure, increased livelihood opportunities, improved governance and administration, preservation of cultural and traditional rights and traditional knowledge, protection of traditional knowledge in the intellectual property rights regime and access to privileges.

The strategy for implementing the policy includes reorienting institutional arrangements in the Scheduled/ Tribal areas, strengthening and revamping of the administrative machinery; developing a quantifiable Tribal Development Index (TDI); linking devolution of funds to improvements in TDI so as to bring STs and tribal areas at par with national level by 2020 and encouraging academic, anthropological and policy research, Mr Kyndiah added.

UNI/BKS KD RS1609