In a major outreach exercise and to bring about a sense of inclusiveness among tribals, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is organising a four-day National Tribal Carnival, beginning October 25, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Over 65,000 tribal delegates and artistes from across the country will participate.
The Ministers of State including Faggan Singh Kulaste, Kiren Rijiju and Vishnu Deo Sai are among others who are likely to attend the four-day carnival.
Minister of Tribal Affairs Jual Oram on Tuesday stated that the carnival will feature workshops on Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas Act (PESA), Forest Rights Act (FRA), reservation of tribals in politics among others. The carnival will provide platforms to tribal artistes, to showcase and promote various facets of their culture and especially their skills on a large scale, he added.
This will include exhibition of art/artifacts, cultural performances, demonstration of skills like sports, paintings, traditional healing practices among others. “I have personally involved all political parties — spoken to the tribal MPs and former Ministers seeking their participation,” he said adding that the carnival had been scaled up on the directives of the Prime Minister.
The scale of the event can be gauged from the fact that states are running special trains for tribal delegates to Delhi. While Chhattisgarh has already booked a train, Jharkhand and Rajasthan are trying to work out details with Railway ministry. The ministry has already issued close to 70,000 railway concession passes. Ministry expects the most participation from Madhya Pradesh. Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat are also expected to send high number of delegates.