What is Aadi Mahotsav and TRIFED?

Aadi Mahotsav and Role of TRIFED

• It is a Mega fortnight long National Tribal festival started with the theme: ‘A celebration of the spirit of Tribal culture, cuisine & commerce’ which was organized by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED (Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India)
• The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has inaugurated a fortnight long Aadi Mahotav on November 16, 2017. 
• He said the tribal development is an important component to achieve the object of inclusive development (Sabka Vikas). 

Salient points from the speech of Hon’ble Vice President of India:

• This festival will prove very useful to introduce this wonderful cultural heritage to all over India and the world. 
• Another advantage through this festival can be that the objects and artifacts made by tribals will have an opportunity to sell them and get financial benefits. Their efficiency will be rewarded in the form of economic prosperity.
• What is special about the tribes? 
• As the name of this event suggests, it is the ‘adi’ factor that is important about them.
• Adivasis are the aboriginals. 
• Their 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 and their natural simplicity. 
• Their creations have a timeless appeal. 
• The crudest tribal handicraft instantly touches a chord in all of us. 
• This is also particularly true of tribal music and dance.
• The tribes of India have a wide range of handicrafts. These include hand-woven cotton, wool and silk fabrics, woodcrafts, metal craft, terracotta, bead-work, masques and other objects. They also produce compelling paintings.
• The tribes constitute over 8% of the country’s population. Our constitution enjoins upon the Government the responsibility of addressing the special needs of the tribals.
• Government seeks to promote interaction between the tribal artisans and the mainstream designers from reputed design organizations. He further said that events such as this Adimahotsav are very important in this regard. The Government has formed the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) for achieving this, he added.
• He invited the tribal artisans to make the best use of this opportunity to forge links with other artisans and market drivers.

Important Dignitaries present:

· The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu

· The Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Shri Jual Oram,

· The Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Shri Sudarshan Bhagat

· The Secretary, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Ms. Leena Nair,

· The Managing Director, TRIFED, Shri Pravir Krishna