A two-day national conference on “Revisiting Tribal Policies, Research and Innovations” jointly organized by the Centre for Innovation in Public Systems (CIPS), Tribal Welfare Department (TWD), Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) and the Department of Anthropology, School of Social Sciences, University of Hyderabad (UoH) on August 29, 2017 at the School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad.
The inaugural session began with the commemoration of 154th birth anniversary of Sri Gidugu Ramamurthy, an eminent tribal linguist and ethnographer. Shri Nakka Ananda Babu, honorable Minister for Social Welfare and Empowerment & Tribal Welfare and Empowerment, GoAP was the chief guest and the session was chaired by Prof B. P Sanjay, Pro-Vice Chancellor, UoH. Other guests of honour were Sri Giridhar Gamang, former Chief Minister of Odisha, Dr. Nivedita P. Haran, IAS (Retd.), Director of CIPS; Dr. Padma, IAS, Special commissioner, TWD, GoAP.
This conference brings together policy makers, administrators and researchers on the same platform, mainly to deliberate on the roadmap for research activity to be carried out among the scheduled tribes of Andhra Pradesh post bifurcation of the state; besides offering critical observations on the draft National policy of Tribals.
Sri Giridhar Gamang urged the need for a policy that is “accountable, appreciable and acceptable to the people” in line with the constitutional framework.
Dr. Nivedita Haran highlighted the need to get together all the stake holders working on tribal welfare under one roof and said she looked forward to two days of intensive brainstorming on how to fill the gap between researchers and practitioners.
Dr. Padma IAS, shared her administrative experiences in the thrust areas of tribal education, health, sanitation, infrastructure, employment and skill development. She emphasized that her field experiences indicate the need to revisit tribal policies and emulate the best practices instead of reinventing the wheel.
Honourable Minister Shri Nakka Anand Babu, in his keynote address, proposed to resolve to observe this day August 29th as the Tribal Languages Day also. He urged to move from assumptions based planning to evidence based planning; given the issues and concerns of Tribals in the context of globalization.
The session concluded with Prof B. P. Sanjay reiterating the role of universities as spaces of dispassionate exchange of views and collaborations such as this of innovators, researchers and policy makers which contribute to holistic development of state and country.
Prof. B. V. Sharma Co-Coordinator, Department of Anthropology, School of Social Sciences, UoH and Shri Chinna Veerabhadrudu, Advisor to CIPS welcomed the gathering while Prof. Sudhakar Rao, faculty in the Department of Anthropology proposed the vote of thanks.