The union cabinet on Wednesday approved amendment of the Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi Islands Land Revenue and Tenancy Regulation, 1965 to confer occupancy rights to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) population in the union territory.
Briefing reporters about the decisions, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said the Lakshadweep island mostly comprises ST population and they did not have occupancy rights.
"Decision has been taken to give them occupancy rights. The decision is important from the point of view of the tribal community. It happened as part of good governance initiatives of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The gap came to light due to continuous review," Javadekar said.