Bhubaneswar, Sep 24 - Orissa has requested the central government for early release of central funds to carry out various tribal welfare activities in the state, according to an official statement here Thursday.

'Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik met Tribal Affairs Minister Kantilal Bhuria at New Delhi Thursday and requested early release of central grants of Rs. 64.26 crore (Rs.642.6 million),' a release from the chief minister's office here said.

'Patnaik also emphasized for inclusion of more eligible communities from the state in the Scheduled castes and Scheduled Tribes list so that the deserving people could benefit from government programme,' the release said, adding that 157 such proposals have been sent by the state government to the centre for inclusion in the list.

'The chief minister also requested for release of Rs.140 crore (Rs.1.4 billio) during 2009-10 for construction of 400 new 100-bedded Scheduled Tribes girls' hostels in the state,' the release said.

Mentioning that Orissa is home to about a quarter of tribal people in the country, Patnaik asked Bhuria to set up a tribal university in the impoverished district of Kandhamal, it said.