<p>Port Blair: As the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands has started preparations for the upcoming Census 2027, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is mulling various options including 'non-invasive thermal census' of world's last pre-Neolithic tribe – Sentinelese, an official said.</p>.<p>"The Sentinelese tribe lives on North Sentinel Island, and they are isolated for thousands of years. Since the Census will begin, we are also chalking out various ways to do the Census of the Sentinelese as well. One way of doing it is thermal Census. We have not yet come out with the final SOPs, but soon it will be chalked out," a senior official at the Ministry of Tribal Affairs said.</p>.<p>The North Sentinel Islands and its buffer zone is strictly prohibited under the Protection of Aboriginal Tribe (Regulation), 1956 and Regulations under the Indian Forest Act, 1927.</p>.Ujjwala scheme boosts LPG use in Andaman & Nicobar.<p>The Sentinelese tribe is designated as a Scheduled Tribe.</p>.<p>"They are thought to be directly descended from the first human populations to emerge from Africa, and have probably lived in the Andaman Islands for up to 55,000 years. They resist with bow and arrow when someone from their outside world tries to contact them at Sentinel Island, spread across 14,700 acres," a senior tribal welfare officer said.</p>.<p>In November 2018, American tourist John Allen Chau was killed by the Sentinelese tribe after he went there illegally on a religious mission.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, the first meeting of the union territory-level Census Coordination Committee, constituted to monitor the exercise at the highest level, was held on August 29 under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Chandra Bhushan Kumar.</p>.<p>Director of Census Operations Purva Garg made a detailed presentation outlining the tentative Census calendar, progress of preparatory work, and the new innovations to be adopted.</p>.<p>She apprised the Committee that the 2027 Census will be conducted digitally across the country, in two phases – house listing and housing census (HLO) and population enumeration (PE).</p>.<p>She also briefed that as a prelude to the actual census, a pre-test of house listing and housing census is planned to be held in October-November 2025 in selected areas of all the three districts of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.</p>.<p>The chief secretary emphasised the need to pay special attention to enumeration in tribal areas to ensure inclusivity and accuracy.</p>
<p>Port Blair: As the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands has started preparations for the upcoming Census 2027, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is mulling various options including 'non-invasive thermal census' of world's last pre-Neolithic tribe – Sentinelese, an official said.</p>.<p>"The Sentinelese tribe lives on North Sentinel Island, and they are isolated for thousands of years. Since the Census will begin, we are also chalking out various ways to do the Census of the Sentinelese as well. One way of doing it is thermal Census. We have not yet come out with the final SOPs, but soon it will be chalked out," a senior official at the Ministry of Tribal Affairs said.</p>.<p>The North Sentinel Islands and its buffer zone is strictly prohibited under the Protection of Aboriginal Tribe (Regulation), 1956 and Regulations under the Indian Forest Act, 1927.</p>.Ujjwala scheme boosts LPG use in Andaman & Nicobar.<p>The Sentinelese tribe is designated as a Scheduled Tribe.</p>.<p>"They are thought to be directly descended from the first human populations to emerge from Africa, and have probably lived in the Andaman Islands for up to 55,000 years. They resist with bow and arrow when someone from their outside world tries to contact them at Sentinel Island, spread across 14,700 acres," a senior tribal welfare officer said.</p>.<p>In November 2018, American tourist John Allen Chau was killed by the Sentinelese tribe after he went there illegally on a religious mission.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, the first meeting of the union territory-level Census Coordination Committee, constituted to monitor the exercise at the highest level, was held on August 29 under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Chandra Bhushan Kumar.</p>.<p>Director of Census Operations Purva Garg made a detailed presentation outlining the tentative Census calendar, progress of preparatory work, and the new innovations to be adopted.</p>.<p>She apprised the Committee that the 2027 Census will be conducted digitally across the country, in two phases – house listing and housing census (HLO) and population enumeration (PE).</p>.<p>She also briefed that as a prelude to the actual census, a pre-test of house listing and housing census is planned to be held in October-November 2025 in selected areas of all the three districts of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.</p>.<p>The chief secretary emphasised the need to pay special attention to enumeration in tribal areas to ensure inclusivity and accuracy.</p>