Post-independence, the task of integrating the tribal people into the mainstream was extremely complex. The debates on methods of integration revolved around two approaches. One was to leave the tribal people alone, untouched by modern influences and the second approach was that of assimilating them into the Indian society. However, India adopted the policy of integrating the tribals based on the Nehruvian approach of tribal development based on the principle of self- empowerment.

Salient features of tribal policy (Tribal Panchsheel) adopted after independence

• Develop along their own genius: Tribals should develop along the lines of their own genius and there should be no imposition or compulsion from outside.
• Tribal rights: Tribal rights on land and forests to be respected and no outsider to take possession of tribal lands. Further, the incursion of the market economy into tribal areas had to be strictly controlled and regulated. Local governance: For administration, responsibility should be placed on the tribal people themselves and administrators should be recruited from amongst them and trained.
• Tribal policies: Tribal areas should not be over administered or overwhelmed with a multiplicity of schemes.
• Emphasis on human growth: One should judge the results not by statistics but by quality of human character that is involved.

Further, the Constitution also provided for the setting up of Tribal Advisory Councils in all states containing tribal areas to advise on matters concerning the welfare of the tribals. Also, several tribal- specific initiatives such as Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana, Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub Plan, Scheme for development of PVTGS, Forest Rights Act, 2006, scholarships for tribal students etc. have been implemented by the Government. Despite the constitutional safeguards and the efforts of the central and state governments, the tribals’ progress and welfare has been very slow, and even dismal to an extent. Reasons for slow progress of tribals

• Administrative inefficiency: Often administrative personnel are ill-trained or even prejudiced against tribals. Further, sympathetic officials are also known to be quickly transferred out of tribal areas under the pressure of traders, moneylenders, forest contractors and land-grabbers.
• Unfamiliarity with laws and legal system: Due to illiteracy and lack of awareness, many tribal communities remain in dark about the assistance laid down for them by the Government and their legal rights.
• Lack of coordination: Lack of coordination among different agencies engaged in implementing tribal development schemes is one of the reasons for their underdevelopment.
• Land Alienation and Displacement: After independence, emphasis on infrastructural development led to the displacement of tribals from their homeland for extracting mineral resources. They were forced to live in peripheries in slums or to migrate to adjoining states to work as unskilled workers in conditions of poverty.
• Legal and Constitutional Issues: Forged and manipulated Gram Sabha resolutions, lack of consent before land acquisition and other grave issues still persist in the implementation of the PESA act.

The constitutional and legislative safeguards should be implemented in letter and spirit protecting the land and forest rights of tribal communities. Further, the right to preservation of their language, culture and traditions, and to protect themselves against the loss of identity, must be recognized, protected and documented.