Tribal Cultural Museum, TRTI sub-centre in Nagpur to be a reality

By Kartik Lokhande 
After two years since unveiling of the corner stone, the Gondwana Tribal Cultural Museum and Nagpur sub-centre of Maharashtra Tribal Research and Training Institute (TRTI) has taken a step towards becoming a reality. Tribal Development Department has cleared a proposal to use 5.55 acres of land that currently houses bungalow of Additional Tribal Commissioner and employees’ quarters, for the construction of the sub-centre.
On December 28, 2013, corner stone of the proposed Gondwana Tribal Cultural Museum was unveiled at Nagpur. In the same programme, announcement of setting up sub-centre of TRTI at Nagpur was made. However, since then, nothing much happened. On March 4, 2014, administrative approval was granted to setting up Gondwana Tribal Cultural Museum and TRTI sub-centre at Nagpur. But, it was caught in certain technical issues. The Government constituted a committee to look into the issues and make recommendations in this regard.
Then, the land at Mouza Chikhli was finalised for the museum. Later, it was found that the land was actually at a distance from the heart of Nagpur city. As a result, the Government favoured scouting for another piece of land. It was found that 5.55 acres of land that hosts the bungalow of Additional Tribal Commissioner, Nagpur, and employees’ quarters was suitable for the museum and TRTI sub-centre. The bungalow of Additional Tribal Commissioner is on 644 sq mtrs only and the employees’ quarters are in 640 sq mtrs. The employees’ quarters are in dilapidated condition.
Once the land was identified, a joint inspection of the site was conducted by a team comprising Secretary of Tribal Development Department, Commissioner of Pune-based TRTI, officers of Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) and Additional Tribal Commissioner, Nagpur. After the inspection on June 25 earlier this year, the team gave its opinion that the land was suitable for Gondwana Tribal Cultural Museum and TRTI sub-centre. The bungalow of Additional Tribal Commissioner is located near Biodiversity Board office in Civil Lines area.
Accordingly, TRTI Commissioner submitted a proposal to the Government on June 30. The BJP-led Government approved the proposal expeditiously, and issued an order on Tuesday (July 14) granting approval to construction of Gondwana Tribal Cultural Museum and TRTI sub-centre. In fact, an amount of Rs 21 crore has been granted for the project. The amount includes Rs 10 crore received from Project Appraisal Committee, Union Tribal Affairs Ministry, for the financial year 2014-15, and Rs 11 crore approved for 2015-16.
Dr Madhavi Khode, Additional Tribal Commissioner, Nagpur, told ‘The Hitavada’ that the land of bungalow and employees’ quarters in Civil Lines area was still in use. “The project of museum and TRTI sub-centre includes the component of new bungalow and servants’ quarters. For the period of construction of new bungalow, another bungalow would be allotted to the Additional Tribal Commissioner,” she said.
The Government has empowered TRTI Commissioner for the task of getting prepared the design of the museum and TRTI sub-centre in accordance with the tribal culture, estimates for construction, getting maps sanctioned from competent authority etc. TRTI Commissioner is expected to submit the design, maps, estimates to the committee under Tribal Development Department.
It may be mentioned here that the Tribal Cultural Museum at Pune under TRTI has various artefacts providing useful information about anthrography and anthropology of tribals in Maharashtra. These include domestic utensils, ornaments and articles of personal decoration, musical instruments, idols of deities, house patterns, agricultural implements, nets and traps, weapons, wood carvings, masks, traditional paintings etc. 

(13-07-15)