100 Days’ Plan: Odisha To Set Up Academic Centre & Laboratory For Tribal Languages & Culture

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Minister of ST & SC Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare Department Nityananda Gond has directed establishment of an Academic Centre and Language Laboratory for the Academy of Tribal Languages and Culture (ATLC) on the outskirts of Odisha capital.

The laboratory will be set up as part of the 100 Days’ Plan of the department.

Officials said the new Academic Centre and Language Laboratory for ATLC will be set up near the proposed Adivasi Bhawan at Gothapatana. It will be a multipurpose centre for meetings, conferences, shows and exhibitions of tribal art, culture and development.

It may be mentioned that ATLC, which is an autonomous institution under the ST, SC Development M&BCW Department, was established in 1979 and was known as Academy of Tribal Dialects and Culture (ATDC). Rechristened in 2007-2008, it is a one-stop destination to learn about Odisha’s 64 tribes and particularly the 13 vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs), their folktales, culture and traditions, riddles, biographies, cuisines, dictionaries, songs, folk songs, novels and proficiency modules. One of its best-seller publications is “Tribal Atlas of Odisha”.

Research and publications apart, ATLC also provides guidance and consultancy services to scholars, filmmakers, writers, non-government organisations (NGOs), and government institutions interested in tribal communities and their cultures.

The academy has been organising language training programmes in various tribal sub-plan (TSP) areas to impart language skills to field workers and teachers to enhance their working knowledge of tribal languages.

ATLC also organises the annual Adivasi Mela and the state-level sudents’ festival “Sargiful” besides honouring outstanding tribal talents.