Acculturation and integration of tribal communities.

The onset of British rule brought once isolated communities into mainstream. It not only disrupted their primitive economy but also fiddled in their socio-cultural system.Owing to such scenario Verrier Elwin argued for isolation of Tribes , through national park method , to preserve their culture and traditional practices. However , G.S Ghurye oppsed his approach and argued that Tribes are backward Hindus and they must be facilitated to develop within the hindu fold.

But post independence , policy makers led by Jawaharlal Nehru wanted Tribal communities to be part of development process. Nehru wanted to integrate them with fellow citizens by keeping their culture and practices intact. And thus he proposed Tribal Panchsheel.

Consequently , constitution conferred various measures like National commission , reservation, scheduled areas to achieve the goal of integration . And as a result tribes like Meena's not only integrated but also started to practice Hindu Ideals - by getting accultured - and adapted to hindu lifestyle.

Also , tribes of central India like Gonds have been living with other communities in villages and sharing work in factories. Certain groups like Todas of nilgiris , Jenu kurubas in karnataka still have forest as their adobe though with regular contact with outsiders.

However , on the flipside the pursuit of integration has led to negative consequences with respect to Jarawas of Andaman , Khasis of Meghalaya and tribes in Niyamagiri hills either due to human intervention for tourism or for mining and other such activities.To realize the essence of Panchsheel , it must be implemented in letter and spirit.