A vanishing culture, an identity crisis, distorted modernisation, outsiders and development activities in tribal societies endanger their distinctive identity, necessitating the ethnological institutions and museums to take steps to preserve the remains of these dying cultures.
It is for this very purpose that D.N. Majumdar Museum of Folk life and Culture was established in 1975. The displays in the galleries of the Museum focus on the balance between adaptiveness to changing times and survival of their inherent cultural ethos. A major section of the displays has been concentrated on the art and craft of the various tribal and folk societies some of whom are very primitive while the others show the natural trends that adoptions form about.
The Museum has a good many models of original tribal artifacts and other collections which are mostly from U.P. and M.P. as well as some other states. The museum has also produced two video films of 45 minutes each on the Tharu-a tribe of Uttar Pradesh. The Museum has been receiving non-recurring grants from the Department of Culture, Government of India.
Research wing of EFCS is engaged in regularly conducting research studies, evaluation and action-oriented research relating to different problems of social change, folk and tribal culture, development etc. The focus of research studies has been on the weaker and deprived sections of Indian society.