The first tribal university of the country has been set up in Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh which aims at promoting higher education among the Scheduled Tribes.

Indira Gandhi National Tribal University (IGNTU), the first of its kind dedicated for education and research on tribals, has given admission to 150 students this year. It would offer courses in humanities and commerce.

According to C. D. Singh, Vice-Chancellor of IGNTU, 150 students have been granted admission which include 100 tribal communities. The University is offering Bachelor Degree programmes in anthropology, tourism, political science, geography, history and commerce.

The university, which is yet to have its own Academic Council, has adopted the syllabus of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) for the courses.

Arjun Singh, HRD Minister had laid the foundation of the University at Amarkantak in April this year. However, the land is yet to be acquired for its campus. A building of an Ashram in Amarkantak has been dedicatedly kept aside where the classes would be conducted said the Vice-Chancellor, who was also hopeful in acquiring land for this purpose. A major portion of the land earmarked for the campus comes under forest area. It has not been transferred to the university till date.

The university has started the process of recruiting its registrar and teaching faculty.

The courses on anthropology and tourism would touch upon the tribals' tradition and culture.

When the campus and adequate staff have been finalized, research on tribal art, culture, tradition, language, custom, medicinal system, forest-based economic activities including special studies in flora and fauna and advancement in technologies relating to natural resources of tribal areas would commence said the Vice-Chancellor.

The university, set up under a Central law enacted in 2007, would have jurisdiction all over the country and would be funded by the University Grants Commission.

The education of the tribal people has been a matter of concern in view of low gross enrolment ratio (GER), the percentage of people of the relevant age group in the realm of higher education. While the national GER is 11.6 percent, the GER of the tribals is a meagre 6.6 percent.

The university, which would be broadly on the pattern of existing Central universities, which would cater particularly to the tribal people in Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat, he said.

Besides headquarters at Amarkantak, the university would have regional centres and campuses in other tribal concentrated areas, said the Vice-Chancellor.

Authorities of the university like executive council, academic council, college development council, boards of studies, academic boards, management boards and finance committees would have adequate number of members from among the Scheduled Tribes, he said.

Amarkantak has been selected as the site for the university because it is a central point in the tribal areas stretching between Madhya Pradesh, Chhattishgarh, Jharkhand and Maharashtra.