Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, under the ‘Support to TRIs scheme’, provides financial support to the Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs) in States/UTs for the projects/activities undertaken for the preserving and promoting of tribal languages and dialects as mentioned below.
- Preparing Bilingual Dictionaries and Trilingual Proficiency Modules in tribal languages.
- Preparing Primers for students of Class I, II and III in tribal languages under Multi-Lingual Education (MLE) Intervention in the line of New Education Policy 2020. Publishing Varnamala, local rhymes, and stories in tribal languages.
- Publishing books, journals on different tribal languages to promote tribal literature
- Documenting folklore, and folktales of different tribes for preservation and promotion of tribal folk tradition. Collecting oral literature (songs, riddles, ballads etc.)
- Translation and publication of Training module about Sickle cell Anaemia disease awareness Module I and Diagnosis & Treatment Module II in local Tribal Dialects
- Conducting conferences, seminars, workshops, and poetic symposiums.
- these projects and activities, tribal communities are encouraged to participate in conferences, seminars, workshops and exchange programs. Teachers from Government Ashram Schools along with language experts from respective communities are associated in developing the dictionaries and primers in tribal dialects and language, which not only preserves and conserve the tribal languages but help tribal students in basic learning from class I to III and help in smooth transition when they go to higher classes. TRIs also organise Tribal Language Training Programme for field functionaries (front-line workers).
Further, the New Education Policy also stipulates that young children learn and grasp quickly in their home language and mother tongue. Accordingly, Central and State Governments are encouraging multi-lingual policy for imparting education and preservation of language. As informed by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry initiated the ‘Scheme for Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages (SPPEL)’ under the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysuru in 2013. This project is documenting the language & culture of the mother tongues/languages of India spoken by less than 10,000 speakers in the form of primers, bi/trilingual dictionaries (electronic and print formats), grammatical sketches, pictorial glossaries and ethno-linguistic profile of the community.
Under the scheme ‘Support to Tribal Research Institutes’, based on the annual proposals received from the Tribal Research Institutes, Apex committee approves projects/activities. The budget allocation (BE) for the last 3 years under scheme is as under.
| Name of the Scheme | BE for 2021-22 | BE for 2022-23 | BE for 2023-24 |
| Support to TRI | 120 Cr | 121 Cr | 118.64 Cr |
For details of projects sanctioned to TRI, the minutes of Apex Committee may be viewed at website of the Ministry (tribal.nic.in).
Further, under another scheme ‘Tribal Research, Information, Education, Communication and Events (TRI-ECE)’ funds are given to reputed Institutions for carrying out research study programs including documentation of tribal languages and developing AI based translation tools for converting English/Hindi Text/Speech to selected tribal languages and vice-versa. The details of the projects are as under.
| Name of the Organization | Name of Project Sanctioned | Total Approved Cost |
| Bhasha Research and Publication Centre, Vadodara | Study and Documentation of Adivasi Languages, Culture and Life-Skills
FY:2019-20 |
Rs. 58.70 Lakh. |
| BITS, Pilani and consortium of IITs and Bhashini | Development of an AI-based Translation Tool for Converting English/Hindi Text/Speech to selected Tribal Languages and Vice-Versa FY:2024-25 |
Rs.3.122 crore |
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