The census between the six main indigenous tribes on Andaman Islands and Nicobar will not be difficult, because the central government has already made contact and has been taking several measures for these tribes, said Ratan Chandra Kar and spoke exclusively with Hindu.
The government formally announced that the 16 census in India will be held in two phases, with reference data set as 1 March 2027 for most of the country and 1 October 2026. This census will include the first national caste since 1931.
Dr. Kar, who played an important role in the provision of Jaraw’s tribe’s health care in the Andaman Islands, began his work with tribes in 1998 and in 1999 he fought against the devastating outbreak of measles that threatened the existence of the tribe.
Jarawas are one of the oldest surviving tribes in the world and are mostly hunters-customers who live in nomadic bands of 40-50 individuals.
“At present, the Jarawa tribe population has grown from 260 to 647, which is a good stable growth,” he said.
The explanation of the growth of the tribe population has said that in September 1998 Jarawas met the local population.
The census in 2011 was recorded by 380 individuals of Jaraw of 28,530 individuals of the tribe on Andaman and Nicobar. Among the communities counted in the ST population were also Andamanese, Nicobarese, Shompen, Onge and Sentinelese. In addition to Nicobarese, all these communities were classified as a particularly vulnerable tribal group.
With the next census that is yet to be carried out, the Ministry considered tribal affairs to estimate the PVTG population, including the Andaman and Nicobar islands, implementing targeted scheme programs such as PM-Janman for PVTG households. According to the progress of this scheme, the government was able to identify 191 PVTG individuals in A&I.
“At that time, their population was 260 and from this day their population increased to 647. This increase was possible and achieved because of a successful attempt by the central government to establish meaningful contact with them, gain their trust and develop friendly relations,” he said.
He explained that in 1998 the population was rather “estimated or estimated” on the basis of limited contact, but that the population has been “much more accurate” since 2025 due to the extent of contact since then and the use of satellite images for this purpose.
Dr. Charles added that the government was able to provide permanent, targeted and proactive medical care as needed, and because of this “we successfully faced all such occurrences of new diseases/infections (measles, malaria, conjunctiva, mumps, mumps, hepatitis and others) without any significant mortality. The upcoming census gained full access.
The tribes on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are Big Andamanese, Onge, Jarawa, Sentineles, Nicobarese and Shompen.
Speaking of the impact of Andaman Trunk Road (ATR) in terms of access and penetrating the tribal settlement, he said that the best chance of survival Jarawas is “ we leave them in a room with a minimum hit ”.
“The trunk does not suffer from any lifestyle, including heart problems, diabetes, hypertension, etc., supplies are almost always normal and the normal life expectancy is up to 50 and now. We have to offer modern medical care as a supplement to their own system of natural medicine and immunity,” he said.
Dr. Charles suggested that at the atm, there is an ambulance that has an impact on several lamps of people staying in the south of Andaman, Middle Andaman and North Andaman, brings Jarawas much closer to the local population.
“Regulation of traffic movement through ATR ensures that the balance of ensuring the comfort of the local population and maintaining Jarawas at bay in front of the local population. This is essential for their survival,” he added.
Published – 13 July 2025 14:29
