(a) whether it is a fact that the Ministry of Culture has allocated a special grant to conduct a survey related to the genetic history of tribals;
(b) if so, the reasons behind such survey;
(c) the total grant for the survey and the time frame for its completion; and
(d) the number of tribal communities which have been identified for the survey?
MINISTER OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION
(SHRI G. KISHAN REDDY)
(a) to (d) : Ministry of Culture has not allocated any special grant to conduct a survey related to the genetic history of tribals. However, Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI), a subordinate office under the Ministry of Culture, has undertaken a national project “Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) Polymorphism of Contemporary Indian Populations” with the following objectives:
(i) To understand the genomic variation of Indian population.
(ii) To reconstruct evolutionary history of human using molecular evidences.
(iii) To generate DNA database of Indian tribal populations,
(iv) To trace the migratory history of Indian population through mtDNA and Y-chromosome haplogroups.
(v) To know the candidate gene association with various diseases.
The DNA sequencing of complete mitochondrial DNA (13469 base pairs) and Non recombination Y-chromosome (NRY) region for 75 tribal communities have been identified, completed and research results published.