Indira Gandhi National Tribal University

About Indira Gandhi National Tribal University

Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak (IGNTU) is a Central University, setup especially for the higher education of tribal people. The tribal people are rich in cultural heritage, arts and crafts but they are still marginalized in respect to higher education as well as in other walks of life. Thus IGNTU was established by an Act of the Parliament of India i.e. the Indira Gandhi National Tribal University Act, 2007 and came into physical being on July 2008. The University focuses more on Skill Oriented Higher Education, Vocational Education and research facilities as it directly benefits the tribal population of India. Even, the IGNTU campus is located in the tribal areas and most of the students belong to ST, SC, OBC (non- creamy layer) & Minorities to meet its objective to the highest.

The jurisdiction of the University extends to the whole country and it is fully funded by the Central Government through the University Grant Commission. The headquarters of the University is situated at Amarkantak (Madhya Pradesh). The main campus of the University is situated at Lalpur, 20 km. away from Amarkantak. The campus spreads over an area of nearly 400 acres on the top of hills, surrounded by lush green forests with pollution free environment. Indira Gandhi National Tribal University also has a Regional Campus at Manipur. This first Regional Campus of was established at Imphal, Manipur in 2009. For the permanent establishment of the Campus the State Government of Manipur has provided 300 acres of land in Makhan village, at a distance of 25 kms from Imphal, on Imphal- Dimapur National Highway No. 39.

Courses at IGNTU Regional Campus, Manipur

1. Master of Arts (Political Science)

2. Master of Arts (Sociology)

3. Master of Arts ( Tribal Studies)

5. Master of Social Work

Location – It is situated at 22º41' N. latitude and 81 º 46’ E. longitudes, 1067 metres above the sea level in district of Anuppur in Madhya Pradesh. Amarkantak is situated at a distance of 30 km in the west of Pendra Road

Transportation

The university’s’ main campus is about 70 km away from the district headquarters, Anuppur

By Rail - The nearest railway station is the - Railway Station (Chhattisgarh) on Katni-Bilaspur track of South-East Central Railway. Almost all the trains plying on this track stop here.

The railway station can be reached by bus from all directions as there is good frequency of buses on Jabalpur, Raipur, Bilaspur, Allahabad, Rewa, Shahdol, Dindori and Anuppur routes.

By Air - Amarkantak can also be reached by air through Jabalpur (M.P.) in the West and Raipur (Chhattisgarh) in the East. However, both the places are almost equidistant, i.e. 230 kms.

Faculties at IGNTU

• Faculty of Commerce and Management
• Faculty of Computronics
• Faculty of Humanities and Philology
• Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication
• Faculty of Science
• Faculty of Social Science
• Faculty of Tribal Studies
• Faculty of Education
• Faculty of Law
• Faculty of Pharmacy

Hostels - Hostel facility is available for both boys and girls with furnished rooms, mess facilities and 24x7 water and electricity supply. In total, there are two girls’ hostels - New Girls Hostel and Old Girls and three boys’ Hostels i.e. New Boys Hostel, Sone Hostel and Narmada Hostel.

Library - The library has a collection of about 24898 books uses Libsys7 Software for automation.

Transportation - Buses of the University ply between

• Campus and Amarkantak
• Campus and Pendra road
• Campus and Rajendragram for students of the University

Bank and ATM Facility - It is provided by the Central Bank of India

Tribal Museum (Janjatiya Sangrahalaya) - This museum at Amarkantak, houses various types of traditional tribal musical instruments which provide a glimpse of tribal music and amusement of tribes of Chhattisgarh. These musical instruments are made and used by different tribal communities themselves.

Innovation Club – It is a joint venture between IGNTU and local communities. It invites designers, thinkers, and researchers from varied fields to contribute methods, engaging, and dedicated efforts for problem solving scenarios which may benefit any stakeholder of the club.

Activities of the club:

• In house and external training on Innovation
• In house and external training on Entrepreneurial skills
• Working on ideas and prototypes with mentors i.e. teachers and trainers
• Preparation for national-based competitions
• Organization of work -shops, seminars and conferences
• Palash Tribal Theatre Group – This group at Amarkanatak was formed to develop theatrical skills in the students of the University. It makes every effort to popularize the tribal culture and for this it often organises theatre training programmes and other activities.

NSS – Various NSS programmes are organised like functional literacy, non formal education, plantation, preservation and up keep of trees, construction and repair of roads, cleaning of village ponds and wells etc. These inculcate the sense of social welfare in students. NSS also provides help in natural and man-made disasters by providing food, clothing and first aid to the disaster victims

NCC - The Corps is engaged in the character building of the student community, as a national investment for the future. NCC helps students in shaping a multifaceted personality.

Placement Cell – It endeavours to facilitate and provide suitable placement in reputed multinationals, government organization, NGO's and the private sector. All students of IGNTU are entitled to placement assistance; need based training and counselling for employment. The cell not only focuses on placement for professional courses such as computer science, management and tourism but it is equally focused for other branches of science as well as humanities and commerce. It also acts as an interface between the industry and the students and facilitates the selection process of all the companies as per their requirement. For this purpose the cell conducts seminars and workshops.