Isolated Sentinel tribe in focus as India readies census

NEW DELHI -- As India gears up for its next census after a delay of six years, the government faces a difficult task trying to account for the small Sentinelese tribal population on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The indigenous people, called the world's most isolated, fiercely resist all contact with outsiders.

The nationwide, once-a-decade census was slated for 2021 but postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The count will start for most parts of India in March 2027, while for a few states and territories in the country's north, it will begin early in October next year. Besides recording population data, the exercise includes caste details on all Indians for the first time since the South Asian nation's independence from British rule in 1947.