Bill to set up third Central Tribal University in Telangana cleared by Parliament

The Parliament passed the Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2023, on Wednesday paving way for establishment of a central tribal university in Telangana - the third central varsity in the country focusing on tribal students.

The new varsity, however, has come nearly a decade after it was first assured for the state.

The Thirteenth Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh Re-organisation Act, 2014, had provided for establishment of central tribal universities for both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. There is already a functional tribal university at Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh.


While the varsity in Andhra Pradesh is up and running, Telangana's was delayed due to land transfer issues pending at the state level as pointed out by the Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Parliament today.

"If the Telangana government had co-operated at the right time, this university would have come up by now. They took a long time to provide land, so there was a delay in the implementation," said Pradhan.

He added that the move was among the several measures taken by the NDA government under PM Modi for the uplift and welfare of tribals.

The Sammakka Sarakka Central Tribal University is being set up through an amendment to the Central Universities Act of 2009 and will aim to provide avenues of higher education and research facilities primarily for the tribal population of India, reads the amendment act.