National Article Writing Competition 2026 on Tribal Rights and Culture by CTCS, HPNLU Shimla [Online; Cash Prizes Rs 23,000]

Himachal Pradesh National Law University (HPNLU), Shimla, was established by the State Government through Act 16 of 2016 and began functioning on 5 October 2016. Admissions to its five-year integrated B.A. LL.B. and B.B.A. LL.B. programmes and its one-year LL.M. programme are made through the Common Law Admission Test.

The competition is organised by the university's Centre for Tribal and Cultural Studies (CTCS), which works to foster research, dialogue, advocacy and capacity-building on tribal rights and cultural preservation. Tribal and indigenous cultures carry ancient knowledge systems, ecological wisdom and community-based traditions, yet they remain underrepresented and vulnerable to displacement from development projects, fading traditional practices and structural inequalities.

Participants may write on any one of the following themes:

• Tribal Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property Rights: Protection, Ownership and Benefit Sharing
• Tribal Displacement and Development: Reconciling Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Community Rights
• Tribal Autonomy and Self-Governance: Reimagining the Fifth and Sixth Schedules in Contemporary India

• The competition is open to all, and articles must be submitted virtually in English.
• Participation may be individual or in co-authorship with up to two authors.
• Each participant or team may submit only one article.
• The article must be original, unpublished and not under consideration elsewhere.

• Word limit: 1,200 to 1,500 words, excluding footnotes, title and bibliography.
• Formatting: Times New Roman 12-point for the body; headings 14-point bold; footnotes Times New Roman 10-point with single spacing; body line spacing 1.5; justified alignment; 1-inch margins on all sides; A4 paper.
• File format: Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx).
• Citation: footnotes must follow the Chicago citation style.
• Plagiarism: articles with a similarity index above 10% may be rejected.
• AI use: AI-generated content must not exceed 20% of the submission.
• Anonymity: the article must not contain the author's name, institutional affiliation, contact details, institutional logo, acknowledgements or any other information that may reveal identity.
• Non-compliance with the word limit, formatting, citation, originality, anonymity or submission requirements may lead to rejection or disqualification.

Articles will be evaluated on originality and quality of research; depth of analysis and logical reasoning; engagement with contemporary developments; clarity, structure and coherence; language and presentation; and referencing and citations.

The organising committee reserves the right to interpret, modify or enforce the guidelines, and in case of any dispute or ambiguity the decision of CTCS, HPNLU and the organising committee is final. Submitting an article is treated as acceptance of the guidelines.

The registration fee is non-refundable:

• Single authorship: Rs 350
• Co-authorship (maximum two authors): Rs 500

Every participant receives a Certificate of Participation, provided the registration fee has been paid.

Registration must be completed through the official registration form (a Google sign-in is required to open it). Registered participants then submit their articles online through the submission form by 12 October 2026. Late submissions may not be considered, and submissions sent by email will not be accepted.

• Director: Prof. (Dr.) S.S. Jaswal, Professor of Law, HPNLU
• Coordinator: Dr. Ved Prakash, Assistant Professor of Political Science, HPNLU
• Coordinator: Dr. Narinder Pal, Assistant Professor of History, HPNLU