Bhubaneswar: The two-day national workshop on strengthening Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs) concluded here on Wednesday with adoption of Bhubaneswar Declaration, a roadmap to transform TRIs into centres of excellence in tribal research, cultural preservation, innovation and evidence-based policymaking.Adopted by nearly 200 participants representing TRIs, state tribal welfare departments, academia, research institutions and civil society, the declaration seeks to align tribal research and development efforts with the vision of Viksit Bharat@2047.The declaration calls for developing TRIs as specialised knowledge hubs and reintroducing a nodal TRI system, under which established institutes will mentor newer ones. It also proposes a National TRI Research Agenda for 2027-2032 to prioritise high-impact research areas linked to tribal development and national policy needs.A key focus of the declaration is strengthening accountability and performance. It recommends a results and ranking framework for all TRIs through the National Tribal Research Portal (NTRP) to encourage performance-based growth and healthy competition among states. States have also been urged to benchmark their institutes against the proposed Model TRI Framework 2030, which will define standards for governance, staffing, research quality and technology adoption.Recognising the need for research to be driven by grassroots realities, the declaration mandates community-level need assessments and proposes a TRI Innovation Network to identify, pilot and scale successful local solutions. It also stresses need to translate research findings into user-friendly dashboards, policy briefs and learning resources to improve policy uptake.The declaration places significant emphasis on the preservation of tribal heritage. It calls for systematic documentation of tribal languages, traditions, music, cuisine and vanishing art forms, with the active involvement of tribal youth in safeguarding indigenous knowledge.Technology adoption emerged as another major theme, with delegates endorsing a shared-service model for advanced infrastructure such as artificial intelligence tools, analytics platforms and innovation hubs. The declaration also advocates the creation of a central repository of tribal data to support research and policymaking.Addressing the valedictory session, Union ministry of tribal affairs secretary Ranjana Chopra said TRIs must evolve into globally recognised centres of excellence rooted in community realities and capable of bridging the gap between research and policymaking. She described the Bhubaneswar Declaration as a strong collective commitment to accelerating tribal development.The workshop also recommended measures to attract and retain specialised researchers, strengthen partnerships with universities, NGOs, technology organisations and industry, and enhance livelihood and entrepreneurship opportunities for tribal communities through collaborative initiatives.
