Parliament Question: Preservation and promotion of tribal cultural heritage

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1428 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.02.2026 Preservation and promotion of tribal cultural heritage 1428 Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla: Will the Minister of Tribal Affairs be pleased to state: (a) the initiatives undertaken during the year 2025 to preserve, document and promote tribal heritage including tribal art forms, languages, oral traditions and customary practices, especially in North Eastern Region; (b) the number of tribal communities, artists or cultural practitioners supported through programmes of the Ministry and the nature of such support in North Eastern region; and (c) the steps taken to involve tribal communities directly in heritage conservation, exhibition and cultural transmission, including linkages created through platforms such as the Tribal Business Conclave? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRIBAL AFFAIRS (SHRI DURGADAS UIKEY) (a) To preserve, document and promote tribal heritage including tribal art forms, languages, oral traditions and customary practices across the country, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India under the Centrally Sponsored scheme ‘Support to Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs)’ extends financial support to 29 Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs) in States/Union Territories (UTs) including those in India’s North East Region. Tribal Research Institute(s) are primarily institutions under the administrative control of the State Government/UT Administration. TRIs submit to the Ministry annual detailed action plan with budgetary requirement through respective State Tribal Welfare Department. Funds are sanctioned to the State Government on need basis and with the approval of Apex Committee chaired by the Secretary, Tribal Affairs. Details of funds released to TRIs including TRIs in North East under the Scheme of ‘Support to Tribal Research Institutes’ during the year 2024-25 is given at Annexure- I. (b) Ministry of Tribal Affairs through its scheme ‘Support to Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs)’ extends financial support to the tribal communities, artists or cultural practitioners of North Eastern States for proposals relating to, inter-alia research & documentation activities and training & capacity building programmes, organization of tribal festivals, yatras for promotion of unique cultural heritage and tourism and organising exchange visits by tribal people so that their cultural practices, languages and rituals are preserved and disseminated. Details of the projects/activities sanctioned to Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs) are available on the Ministry’s portal: https://tribal.nic.in/Display_Apex_Minutes.aspx(c) Steps taken by Ministry of Tribal Affairs to involve tribal communities directly in heritage conservation, exhibition and cultural transmission are mentioned below:  Ministry extends support for organising events like National Tribal Crafts Mela, National/State Tribal Dance Festivals, Art Competitions, Workshop- cum- Exhibition on Tribal paintings and state-level tribal poet and writers meet.  Further Ministry provides funds to organize tribal fairs & festivals, festivals like "Medaram Jathara" undertaken by the Koya Tribe of Telangana, Hornbill Festival of Nagaland, Sarhul Festival of Jharkhand, Lokotsav of Goa and Pawl Kut festival of Mizoram, etc.  Organization of literary festivals and literature competitions.  Motivating tribal writers by extending support for publication of books, local rhymes, stories written by tribal writers/ authors, and translation work done by them.  Extending support for collection of oral literature (songs, riddles, ballads etc.) from tribal communities and documentation of folklore, and folktales of different tribes for preservation and promotion of tribal folk tradition.  Sanctioning of Ethnographic Museums to showcase rare artefacts, dresses, ornaments, weapons etc related to life and culture of various tribes.ANNEXURE- I S. No. State 2024- 25 1 Andaman and Nicobar 0.00 2 Andhra Pradesh 0.00 3 Arunachal Pradesh 150.00 4 Assam 270.00 5 Bihar 99.00 6 Chhattisgarh 1100.00 7 Goa 200.00 8 Gujarat 250.00 9 Himachal Pradesh 125.00 10 Jammu And Kashmir 100.00 11 Jharkhand 200.00 12 Karnataka 200.00 13 Kerala 300.00 14 Ladakh 99.00 15 Madhya Pradesh 600.00 16 Maharashtra 250.00 17 Manipur 140.00 18 Meghalaya 100.00 19 Mizoram 723.14 20 Nagaland 600.00 21 Odisha 600.00 22 Rajasthan 0.00 23 Sikkim 200.00 24 Tamil Nadu 300.00 25 Telangana 1300.00 26 Tripura 300.00 27 Uttar Pradesh 0.00 28 Uttarakhand 793.86 29 West Bengal 0.00 Total 9000.00 ****