Tribal Project or A Literary, Socio-Cultural, and Linguistic Study of Tribal World: Setting up Gujjar & Bakerwal Repository
The Tribal Project between the HSS Department, IIT Jammu, and the Tribal Research Institute intended to collect, interpret, and disseminate Gojri Folklore, understand the worldview of Gojri through their language, and study women’s socio-educational status in the life of Gujjars and Bakarwals living in the Pir-Panjal regions of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The focus was on tangible deliverables such as digital repositories, reports, websites, and workshops.
On this note, an MOU was signed on 26 June 2022 between IIT Jammu and the Tribal Research Institute, J&K, in the presence of the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, to establish a Tribal Chair in the institute. Director, IIT Jammu, Prof Manoj Singh Gaur, announced the set up of a Tribal Chair at the institute. The objectives of the Tribal Chair were to collect, transcreate, digitize, and disseminate the tribal culture of Gujjars and Bakerwals. The PIs of the Tribal Project are: Dr Quleen Kaur Bijral (PI), Dr Amitash Ojha (Co-PI) and Dr Sayantan Mandal (Co-PI).
Marve and Sayari, research scholars of the HSS Department, have been an integral part of the work.