The Tribal Affairs Ministry has asked all state governments to convert Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs) into registered societies so that funds can be released directly and approval process of projects can be expedited.
"Projects sanctioned by the central government, in which the component of research scholars is supported, should not require another round of approvals by various departments of the state governments," a senior ministry official said.
In a recent letter to all state chief ministers, Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram had said, "Sometimes when a project is approved by the Centre, it needs further approval of the state government which appears redundant because the project has been sanctioned in consultation with the states".
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The Ministry has also drawn a road map to improve the quality of research in universities and institutions in order to involve them in a more focused, long-term and policy-oriented work relating to scheduling of tribes.
Three institutions which have been functioning with support from the ministry for sometime are National Institute of Rural Development in Hyderabad (in field of local governance and rural development), BAIF Development Research Foundation in Pune (in field of rural technologies for improvement in livelihood) and Bhasha Research and Publication Centre in Vadodra (in field of information, education and communication).
"The Ministry has recognised Vishva Bharati, Shanti Niketan as the other centre of excellence in the field of tribal language and literature.
"Another proposal is to establish a National Research Centre in Tribal Research Institute, Bhubaneswar to promote research activities on subjects and issues for socio-economic development and culture of states," he said.
