A government-funded institute for tribal advance-ment in the eastern Indian State of Odisha has become the nation’s first tribal university, however Christian leaders have expressed doubts as to how much it will achieve. The central criticism is that the focus will continue to be on teaching the Hindu religion and culture rather than on preserving tribal traditions. The Federal Ministry of Human Resource Development on August 25 awarded “deemed university” status to the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, a facility for indigenous children from kindergarten to postgraduate level.
The institute, based in Odisha’s capital, Bhubaneswar, was established in 1992. It offers residential education to some 25,000 “poorest of the poor” indigenous children and plans to educate some 200,000 children in the next decade, its website states. Among those who believe the new status will not help tribal people is Father Nicholas Barla, Secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India Commission for Tribal Affairs. He says in the past 25 years of existence the institute had “done more harm that good.”
