New Delhi, 23 March : The Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Shri Durgadas Uikey today informed Lok Sabha that no organization in the States in the North Eastern Region has been recognised as Centres of Excellence by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs during the last five years.

There is no ongoing Centre of Excellence (CoE) project in Assam for the last three years. However, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Guwahati submitted a final report in 2022 for the project titled “To study and access the knowledge of traditional healthcare practices and traditional medicines used in tribal population and importantly scientific validation in North East India” entrusted to it in a meeting held on 01.03.2019 under the chairmanship of the then Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs. The report submitted by the organisation reviewed and was approved by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Copy of the approved report was also shared with Ministry of Ayush and Secretary, Ayush has also appreciated the efforts of the Ministry. The report was circulated to Tribal Welfare Departments (TWDs) of Assam and Meghalaya as well.

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has taken several measures to strengthen the functioning of the Centres of Excellence (CoEs). The details are as under:

1. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs regularly undertakes review meetings with the Centres of Excellence to monitor their progress, identify challenges in their projects, and provide necessary directions.
2. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has also conducted meetings with the concerned Centres of Excellence to review and facilitate the closure of past pending projects, with a view to ensuring timely completion and proper utilization of funds.
3. Further, the Ministry under the proposed revised guideline, the scope of work of CoEs has been expanded to include more than 28 thematic areas. The governance structure of the CoE programme is also being strengthened through a multi-tier appraisal and approval mechanism. This includes screening of proposals by a Programme Screening Committee (PSC) and approval by a Programme Appraisal Committee (PAC). In addition, a mandatory review of each CoE has been proposed every five years. Furthermore, the proposal appraisal process through the PSC, along with consultation with the concerned State TRIs, has been incorporated to ensure that the activities proposed by the Centres of Excellence do not duplicate work already being undertaken under the Tribal Research Institutes. Budget allocation to CoE is decided by the PAC depending on the proposal considered and approved, taking into account the activity(s) proposed by the CoE.