The Working Group constituted by the government for establishment of Tribal Research Institute held its first meeting to finalize the plan for infrastructure, manpower, human resource besides cultural and research wings. Secretary, Tribal Affairs Department and Director TRI, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, chaired the Working Group meeting which was attended by Secretary J&K Academy of Art, Culture & Languages/Director Archives & Archeology, Rahul Pandey, Director Tribal Affairs, Musheer Mirza, Director Libraries and Research, Rafi Ahmed, Dr Jasbir Singh and Professor Deepankar Sengupta, HoDs from Jammu University, Professor Peerzada Amin (Kashmir University) and Professor G M Malik (BGSBU) besides all members of the Working Group.The Working Group discussed various plans for time bound establishment of Tribal Research Institute and associated culture centres in the UT. The agenda included roadmap for establishment of TRI, proposal for sanction of staff, deputation of staff from various organizations and department, tribal research fellowships, establishment of museums, tribal research chairs, institute of research in tribal health, institution of awards, organizing camps covering health screening and awareness among tribal communities, research studies/documentation, timelines for various initiatives and inter-sectoral coordination.Dr Shahid Choudhary laid out roadmap for establishment of TRI which will include Research and Cultural Wings covering diverse fields. The TRI with headquarters at Srinagar will have Tribal Research Chairs in Jammu University, BGSB University Rajouri, Kashmir University and Central University Jammu.
Three museums proposed to be started in two phases at Poonch, Rajouri and GDCT Jammu were also discussed apart from research centre proposed at Ramnagar and Doda. TRI is rolling out fellowships in various research fields related to tribal welfare and development. Institute of Research in Tribal Health has been proposed to be set up as a part of TRI in collaboration with Government Medical College, Srinagar. Museum at Poonch and Rajouri in collaboration with Jammu University and BGSBU respectively and one museum at Jammu is being established at GDCT in collaboration with administration.Secretary JKAACL and Director Archives & Archeology, Rahul Pandey proposed all the support for museums and technical staffing.Director, Libraries and Research, Rafi Ahmed discussed about establishment of libraries on various aspects of tribal languages and culture as well as new literary projects. Director, Tribal Affairs, Musheer Mirza briefed about the role of working group and focus of department to implement all decisions taken. Prof Deepankar Sengupta shared the proposal about living museum on tribal life and culture, Dr Malik from BGSBU shared broader contours of tribal research chair covering various research and development projects and Dr Jasbir Singh briefed the group about research priorities and all support from Jammu University for tribal research.Professor Peerzada shared the willingness of Kashmir University to associate with TRI for research and literary projects. The Working Group also discussed signing of MoUs between TRI and Universities, Research Centres, Centres of Excellence, medical institutes, Engineering and Technology institutes and other premier institutes for research as well as technical support and development models to support tribal communities in J&K with focus on livelihood, housing, healthcare, education models and transit facilities among others.