A&NI administration looks to introduce elections to Nicobarese community

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The centrally administered Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands is planning to introduce elections, as they are conducted in the rest of India, to the Nicobarese tribal community in the archipelago. This includes measures such as delimitation of constituencies, preparation of electoral rolls, and reserving seats and positions of leadership for women.

The draft rules have already ignited urgent discussions amongst the Island Tribal Councils across the Nicobar Islands, with some Village Captains arguing this threatened the bureaucratisation of the governance they have been intuitively practising through generations. Some others have raised suspicions that these draft rules were an attempt to give rise to a Nicobarese leadership that might be more favourable to the Union government’s interests, especially in Great Nicobar Island, where the existing Tribal Council has been opposing the Centre’s ₹92,000-crore airport, container port, and tourist-township project for close to four years now.

These draft rules have been put out for public consultation by the Directorate of Tribal Welfare, under the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Tribal Councils) Regulations of 2009, which first codified the notion of Village and Island Councils for the Nicobarese, a Scheduled Tribe community. While the Regulation promulgated by the President claimed the objective was to give greater autonomy to the Nicobarese, its provisions gave the district administration (Deputy Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner), a unilateral and absolute veto over any and all decisions these Councils take or might take, if it posed a threat of injury or “annoyance” to the public or might “lead to a breach of peace”.

There have been multiple attempts at bringing draft rules under the 2009 Regulations, but no final rules have been notified since then. The latest draft rules for Preparation of Electoral Rolls and Conduct of Elections were put out on May 15 this year, with a 30-day deadline for objections and suggestions.