1. Promotion of Research for Data Base

• To plan and conduct Bench Mark Surveys right from the village level to build up a strong baseline primary data bank about the social (including education and health with special reference to women and children), demographic, economic, political and cultural profile of the Scheduled Tribes areas and Scheduled Tribes.
• To identify and study social, cultural, economic, political, demographic, ecological and environmental related problems, needs of the people and emerging tribal issues in inter-disciplinary perspective.
• Identification of physical resource base (both renewable and non-renewable), agriculture and horticulture potential and human resources, up-dating of knowledge through periodic surveys for the formulation of policies, programmes and strategies for sustainable agriculture, horticulture and overall economic development of the tribal areas
• To explore and develop market networks for the tribal areas for the marketing of agriculture, horticulture and other cash crops for boosting tribal economy.
• To identify the existing employment avenues and human resource potentials in the tribal areas for the formulation of employment generating policies and programmes for the optimum utilization of existing skills and promotion of new skills and talents through training programmes.
• To explore in to the emerging issues like tribal rights over land, forests and their management; educational and health infra-structure development with the participation of the State well as people for the promotion of social harmony, development with sustainability.

2. Human Resource Development and Promotion of Extension Work

•  To strengthen the teaching program through organization of orientation and training programmes in the use of modern technology for the production and reproduction of social and economic life of the tribal people.
• To develop literature based on the traditional as well as modern knowledge for the benefit of the officials working at different levels in the tribal areas.
•  Involving tribal people and leaders at different levels to understand the existing ground realities by making available to them research findings.
• Providing research based latest information, knowledge, strategies to the government machinery, top executives, middle level managers and various other functionaries involved in the formulation of policies and programmes for tribal development.
• To educate and sensitize the youth about the available opportunities, the new avenues of employment, the areas of knowledge to pursue and so on for their growth and develoment.

3. Consultation and Collaboration

• To develop partnership with national and international funding agencies for carrying out joint research projects for the development and growth of the tribal areas.
• To hold seminars, conferences, symposia and public lectures for the dissemination and sharing of knowledge accrued through research projects the ITSR proposes.
• The ITSR also proposes to bring out publications in the form of reports, monographs, news bulletin and journal.
• To act as a nodal agency to provide consultative services in research and development activities to the various stakeholders.
• Last, but not least, there are a large number of agencies working in the tribal areas in an independent manner and huge resources of the government and other funding agencies are spent. The ITSR would try to involve all such agencies and coordinate development activities on sharing basis for the optimum utilization of the resources.