Ministry of Tribal Affairs Signs MoU with CSIR-NBRI for Tribal Bioresource Conservation
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) has entered into a three-year Memorandum of Understanding with CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute (CSIR-NBRI), Lucknow, to establish a sustained partnership for promoting research and development in conservation and ethnobotanical assessment of tribal bioresources across India. The agreement was signed on July 29, 2026, by Shri Manish Thakur, Additional Secretary of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, and Dr. Ajit Kumar Shasany, Director of CSIR, in the presence of Smt. Ranjana Chopra, Secretary of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, along with other senior officials and scientists from both organizations.
The primary focus of the partnership is the conservation of Rare, Endangered, and Threatened (RET) medicinal plant species through advanced interventions including development of tissue culture facilities and specialized seed banks. The agreement emphasizes tribal welfare and community sovereignty as foundational principles, with local tribal youth receiving hands-on capacity building and technical training in propagation and conservation techniques to ensure long-term, community-managed sustainability.
A critical compliance requirement under the agreement is that all field assessments and research activities must obtain Prior Informed Consent (PIC) from local Gram Sabhas and tribal communities, fully complying with the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. Every joint project proposal will include a dedicated budget line item for grassroots community development, local value addition, and capacity building initiatives.
The intellectual property framework established under the MoU specifies that any generated intellectual property will be jointly owned by MoTA and CSIR-NBRI, held in trust for, or shared equitably with, contributing tribal communities. Financial gains from commercialization will be channeled back through National or State Biodiversity Funds and dedicated MoTA welfare schemes. The agreement explicitly recognizes Traditional Knowledge as the intangible cultural heritage of tribal peoples and requires strict compliance with national Access and Benefit Sharing mechanisms to prevent unauthorized commercialization.
The partnership will also involve joint thematic events, seminars, and sustained exchange programs involving traditional practitioners and scientists, aiming to bridge tribal community knowledge with modern botanical science while ensuring bioresource conservation directly translates into sustainable community development and cultural preservation.