National Tribal Festival “Aadi Mahotsav” gets a colourful start
The nine-day Aadi Mahotsav (National Tribal Festival), a joint initiative of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India & Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED), is all set for a colourful start today at Polo Ground, Leh-Ladakh.
The 9 day event from 17th August till 25th August, 2019, will be inaugurated by the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satya Pal Malik, at 6 pm today in the presence of Arjun Munda, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs; Renuka Singh, Minister for State for Tribal Affairs and R C Meena, Chairman TRIFED.
The theme of the festival is : “A celebration of the spirit of Tribal Craft, Culture and Commerce”. TRIFED essentially is to play the role of a ‘Service provider’ & ‘Market Developer.’
The event will see around 160 Tribal artisans from more than 20 states across the country, actively participating and showcasing their masterpieces. The product range will comprise of Tribal Textiles from Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal; Tribal Jewellery from Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and North East; Tribal Paintings like Gond art from Madhya Pradesh, Warli art from Maharashtra; Metal craft from Chhattisgarh; Black pottery from Manipur, and Naturals and Organic products from Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.
The event will have two reputed local cultural troupes presenting Ladakhi folk dances. The troupes will perform Jabro Dance – a nomadic dance and song of people inhabiting eastern Ladakh and Spawo dance, a heroic song and dance associated with a legendary hero of Himalayan region called K’sar. Further on in the coming days other dance performances like Flower Dance, Abex Dance/song, Ghazal Dance, Aleyyatoo will regale the visitors.
Mahotsav which will also cover to identify:(a) Food and Forest Produces, which can be processed, value added and marketed under the Van Dhan Scheme of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs ; and (b) Artisans and master craftsmen and women of Ladakh for empanelling them as suppliers of TRIBES India. These products can then be marketed all over the Country through the 104 retail outlets run by TRIBES India across the country and 190 countries across the world through AMAZON, with whom TRIBES India has an agreement.
The tribes constitute over 8 per cent of the country’s population. This is a very significant number. In real terms it corresponds to over 10 crore Indians. The national object of inclusive development (sabkavikas) includes the development of tribes as an important component. Our constitution enjoins upon the Government the responsibility of addressing the special needs of the tribals.
As the name of this event Aadi Mahotsav suggests, it is the ‘adi’ factor that is important about them. The Adivasi way of life is guided by primal truths, eternal values and a natural simplicity. The greatness of the tribes lies in this that they have managed to retain the primal skills, the natural simplicity. Their creations issue from the depths of time. This quality gives their arts and crafts a timeless appeal. The crudest tribal handicraft instantly touches a primal instinct in all of us. This is particularly true of tribal music and dance.
The need is to put two and two together for a win-win result. Events such as this Aadi Mahotsav are very important in this regard. The Government has formed the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) for achieving this. TRIFED is doing significant work in this direction and have now embraced e-commerce and digital platforms to take the business forward. At the Aadi Mahotsav , an effort tis also being made to take tribal commerce to the next level of digital and electronic transactions. The Mahotsav apart from exotic handicrafts will also show case the electronic and digital skills of the tribals as a special attraction.
The tribal textiles manufactured by Master tribal Craftsmen from Jammu &Kashmir in the North to Tamil Nadu in the South and from Gujarat in the West to Nagaland/Sikkim in the East will win people’s heart. The Traditional tribal jewellery, bamboo cane also promise to be the items of attraction.The Tribal handicrafts would be sold through 70-100 Stalls under the Tribes Banner by tribal Artisans. In line with the national aspiration to go cashless, for the first time the tribal artisans will be accepting payment through major credit/debit cards for which Point of Sale (POS) machines have been provided in each stall. A special training has been conducted by State Bank of India for smooth operations of this. The Mahotsav will display the rich digital commerce and e-commerce being promoted by Tribes India. TRIBES India proudly informs the signing of MOUs with Amazon, Snapdeal, Flipkart, PayTM and GEM, a Government of India Portal for e-commerce of the tribal products. Besides TRIBES India has also has its own e-com portal www.tribesindia.com.
