MANGALORE: Mangalore MP Nalin Kumar Kateel has urged the union government to appoint a scholarly person from the tribal community as the vice-chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Tribal Universiry, Amarakantak, Madhya Pradesh. In an intervention in the LokSabha, Nalin said the Government of India had set up IndiraGancihi National Tribal University in Amarkantak for the welfare of about 8.5 crore tribal population of the country. The objectives of the Tribal University are to conduct studies on various cultural and other activities such as art and folk literature of the tribal population. The university caters to the tribal's long cherished dream of higher education. The tribal people are rich in cultural heritage and skilled in art and craft but they are still marginalized in respect of higher education as well as in other walks of life, Nalin Kumar submitted in the house.

Now in the present age of globalization, the world has shrunk into a village as the society has advanced in technology. But the tribals, who are the custodians of Indian culture in the real sense, are far behind in this race of advancement. For their upliftment, the University should play vital role in helping Government of India to formulate policies pertaining to education, employment vocational skill, community development, self-employment opportunities. Nalin said he is of the opinion that the objectives of the National Tribal University will be achieved if a right person having appropriate knowledge of the tribals is at the helm of affairs as heads the proposed university. The Member of Parliament, who has backed the cause of Kudubi tribals in their fight against Mangalore Special Economic Zone in his constituency, urged the government to ensure scholarly person from the community is appointed VC.