Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) Bags Deemed University Status
- KISS is the first tribal university in the world that has been awarded the deemed university status.
- A team comprising of MHRD members made a visit to the campus to assess the institute on various standard parameters.
Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences or KISS has achieved another milestone by securing a deemed university status from the Ministry of Human Resource and Development, Govt. of India vide its Letter No. F.9-14/2011-U-3 (A) dated 25/08/2017. With the latest announcement, KISS has emerged as first tribal university globally which offers courses specifically for the tribal population only.
Founder of KISS, Mr. Achyuta Samanta revealed that Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences has been accorded the deemed university status under De-Novo category that sets the criteria to establish as a new and innovative university in the next five years. The University will introduce a total of seven new innovative departments including Department of Tribal Culture, Tribal Resource Management, Philosophy and Eco-Spiritualism, Comparative Tribal Linguistics & Literature, Indigenous Knowledge, Science and Technology; Tribal Heritage and Tribal Indology, Comparative Indic Studies and Tribal Science, and Tribal Legal Studies and Tribal Rights in the first phase to provide impetus to research on tribal studies and help KISS achieve a place of prominence in the tribal education and research in world.
KISS is the first university in the world, which is fully free and residential for tribal students. The primary objective of the KISS is to emerge as the leading research institute of tribal students globally.
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Even though Indira Gandhi National Tribal University located in Madhya Pradesh was established earlier, it enrolls students belonging to all the categories. On the other hand, KISS is exclusive to tribal students.
A team from the Ministry of Human Resource and Development visited the university and assessed it while taking into account various parameters. These included faculty, infrastructure and intention of promoters. The varsity had already constructed a separate campus that has all the facilities for courses above undergraduates.
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Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences was set up in 1992-93. It provides free education from KG to PG. Currently, KISS is providing free residential education to over 25,000 tribal students across the state. Apart from the formal education, KISS also trains students in various vocational skills.
One branch of KISS has been set up since 2013 in Delhi in the name and style of KISS-Delhi which has been running with the help and support of Delhi Govt. for the poor children of Delhi territory. KISS is acclaimed as a successful model of human development and as a result, various State Governments are interested to start a branch of KISS in their respective States. Work is in progress to start two international branches in Bangladesh as well as branches in various districts of Odisha.
With an aim to educate and empower 2,00,000 underprivileged children over the next decade, KISS is now in the process of setting up branches of KISS in 20 States of India with the support of the Govt. and Non Govt. agencies. A branch of KISS will be set up in West Bengal soon.