The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has written to states with sizable numbers of tribal population, to set up a separate training module to handle crimes in tribal areas, sources in the government said.
The Ministry has asked the states to set up specialised training centres and at-least six to eight week training must be given to the police personnel before posting them in police stations in tribal areas.
"The state police officials who have been posted long in these areas should share their experiences in the training centres about the approaches to handle crimes in tribal areas whereas the training manual of the States may also be suitably amended so that the police officers are made aware of local traditions and customs particularly of the tribals and other vulnerable groups," the officials aware of these developments said.
The Ministry has also asked the state police training institutes to collaborate with the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) Hyderabad and North East Police Academy (NEPA), Shillong, to coordinate specialised training programmes for their states including the study of the cultural gap among the tribes, and include their aspirations and tradition as a part of the training curriculum of the police personnel.
The Union Home Ministry has also asked the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), SVPNPA, Hyderabad and North East Police Academy (NEPA), Shillong to prepare training modules for the state police to deal with crimes in tribal areas.
The government's move came after the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs submitted to the Parliament recently.
The Committee in its 237th Report, voiced its concerns about the interaction and handling of crimes in tribal areas by the State police forces.
Expressing displeasure over the functioning of the state police force in the tribal areas, the Committee opined that a tribal accused should be treated in a tactical way honouring their customs and traditions.
"Therefore, remodelling, restructuring and reorienting of the syllabus of training should be based on local customs and traditions of the residents of the area as the handling of the tribals by the police sometimes creates a reaction and also encourages radical groups in the society", the parliamentary panel said in its observations.
The Parliamentary Committee also recommended that police personnel posted in the tribal belt should have regular interaction with the tribal leaders, NGO activists, non-State representatives like the lawyers, university professors along with scholars having specialization on tribal issues for better handling of the crimes in tribal areas.