On august 17,2019, The 9 day long National tribal festival named “Aadi Mahotsav” commenced at the Polo Ground, Leh-Ladakh. It is a joint initiative of Ministry of tribal affairs and Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED). The theme of this year’s festival is “A celebration of the spirit of Tribal Craft,Culture and Commerce”.
Key points
i. This 9 day event from August 17-25, is inaugurated by the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Shri Satya Pal Malik.
ii. Other members present: The other members present in the inauguration were
- Shri Arjun Munda, Union minister of tribal affairs.
- Renuka Singh, Minister of State(MoS) for Tribal Affairs.
- Shri R.C. Meena, chairman of TRIFED.
The role of TRIFED here is to play a key role as ‘Service provider’ & ‘Market Developer’.
iii. Participants
Artisans: Nearly 160 artisans from more than 20 states will be exhibiting their products.
Products:
Textile: Tribal textile products manufactured by Master tribal craftsmen from Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Odisha,West Bengal and many other states will be exhibited.
Jewellery: Tribal jewellery from Himachal Pradesh Madhya Pradesh and north east will be exhibited.The main attraction in the function is the Bamboo cane traditional tribal jewellery.
Paintings & other arts: Gond art -Madhya Pradesh; Warli art- Maharashtra; Metal craft- Chhattisgarh; Black pottery- Manipur; Natural organic products from Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka will be exhibited.
Dance performances:
Two reputed cultural troupes will be performing folk dances of Ladakh region. They will be performing
- Jabro dance – Eastern Ladakhi people’s nomadic dance and song.
- Spawo dance– this dance is associated with the famous legendary hero of the Himalayan region called K’sar.
- Various other dance performances like the Flower dance, Abex dance and song, Ghazal dance, Aleyyatoo will be performed.
i. Food and forest produces that could be processed and marketed under Van Dhan scheme (launched 14 april 2018 to improve tribal incomes) of Ministry of tribal affairs and artisans and master craftsmen and women of the Ladakhi region will be identified. The products will be marketed through 104 outlets across the country run by TRIBES India( tribal product store) and 190 countries through e-commerce website AMAZON, as TRIBES India tied up to sell the tribal products.
Aadi Mahotsav
i. Tribes constitute 8% of the population in the country which is nearly 10 crore population. The govt works on ‘Sabkavikas’ the national objective i.e., promoting and supporting the development of tribes.
ii. The important factor of this Aadi Mahotsav is the ‘adi’ which describes natural simplicity guided by primal truths and eternal values.
iii. The govt. formed the TRIFED especially to take the tribal development and its business forward. Efforts are being made to improvise tribal commerce with advancement in digital and electronic transactions, thus also showcasing digital skills of the tribal people in the Aadi Mahotsav.
iv. Stalls: Tribal handicrafts will be sold through 70-100 stalls under tribes banner by tribal artisans and for the first time, each stall will be provided with PoS( Point of Sale) machines to accept payments. The State bank of India conducted special training for smooth tribal business transaction operations.
v. MoUs: TRIBES India informs the signing of Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with various e-Commerce companies like Amazon, Snapdeal,Flipkart,PayTM and GeM(Government eMarketplace) to sell tribal products. The TRIBES India also has its own e-commerce portal www.tribesindia.com
About tribal affairs ministry
♦ Union minister Shri Arjun Munda constituency- Khunti, Jharkhand.
♦ MoS Renuka Singh Saruta constituency- Surguja, Chattisgarh.
♦ Founded- 1999
♦ Headquarters- New Delhi.