The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has recently launched the virtual edition of Aadi Mahotsav, focusing primarily on Madhya Pradesh. The next states to be featured will include Gujarat and West Bengal.
Aadi Mahotsav: Highlighting Tribal Culture
Aadi Mahotsav is a national tribal festival that was started in 2017 as a joint venture between the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED). The annual event provides a platform to showcase the diverse craft-work, culture, and heritage of the tribal communities across India. In its previous edition held in 2019, the festival took place in New Delhi, displaying an extensive range of tribal handicrafts, art, paintings, fabric, and jewellery.
Virtual Edition of Aadi Mahotsav
Due to the circumstances of the ongoing pandemic, the 2020 edition of Aadi Mahotsav is being hosted online on the Tribes India E-Marketplace by TRIFED. This gives an opportunity to highlight the specialities of the major tribes from every corner of the country.
About the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED)
TRIFED was established in 1987 under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 1984 by the Government of India. It’s a national level cooperative body functioning under the administrative control of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs with its head office located in New Delhi.
Aims and Objectives of TRIFED
With a focus on the socio-economic development of tribal people, TRIFED aims at empowering these communities with knowledge, tools, and information while enhancing their capabilities.
Initiatives and Involvement of TRIFED
Operating under the brand name of Tribes India, TRIFED markets tribal handcrafted products, procured directly from the artisans, through its 73 outlets across India as well as through its own e-commerce platform.
The TRIFOOD scheme, a collaboration between the Ministry of Food Processing Industry, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, and TRIFED, is designed to add value to Minor Forest Produce (MFP). One of its milestone initiatives includes the launch of the Van Dhan Internship Programme aimed to amplify the output of the Van Dhan Yojana.
TRIFED has been instrumental in implementing the ‘Mechanism for Marketing of MFP through Minimum Support Price (MSP) and Development of Value Chain for MFP’ scheme. This initiative is geared towards ensuring fair returns for forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes (STs) and other traditional forest dwellers. The MSP for MFP and the Van Dhan program align cohesively with the “The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Forest Rights Act, 2006)”, a key forest legislation aiming to protect and secure the livelihoods of disadvantaged tribals and their rights to land and other natural resources.
In addition to these, TRIFED has launched the transformational Tech For Tribals program in conjunction with Institutes of National Importance (INIs) with the objective of fostering tribal entrepreneurship.
