Kolkata, Dec 1 (PTI) The Anthropological Survey ofIndia (ASI) is carrying out several programmes on developmentand sustainability of different tribes and communities in thecountry, its director Vinay Kumar Srivastava said today.
"Our projects are taking place in different parts ofthe country. We are doing everything to have a totalunderstanding of the community in the respective regions ofthe country," Srivastava said on the sidelines of the 73rdfoundation day of the premier institute.
The objectives of the ASI, principally an academicand research institution, is to generate anthropologicalknowledge about the people of the country and keep updating sothat its expertise is profitably employed for the tasks ofnation building, development and integration, he said in hisaddress at the programme to mark the day.
Referring to the synergistic relationship between theanthropology departments of different universities and theASI, he said the former suffer from an acute shortage ofgrants for macro-level research.
"Furthermore they (university deartments) are largelyviewed as teaching and not research institutions despite theemphasis given on research publications for promoting theteaching faculty to higher grade," he said.
Stating that the ASI is often criticised for being atheoretical body, he said, "We are not mindlessly churning outtruckloads of information.""Our commitment is towards generating vast amounts ofanalysed data," he said adding, the ASI is dedicated to studythe bio-cultural profile of Indian population and in 73 yearssince was founded the institute has covered all facets ofIndian population.
Delivering his keynote address at the foundation,eminment anthropologist D K Bhattacharya said that all aspectsof anthropology is extremely relevant to tackle issues thatthe fast changing country is facing every day. PTI SUSKK.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.
