Aadi Mahotsav | 17 Aug 2019
The Aadi Mahotsav, a nine-day tribal festival and the Centre’s first official function in Ladakh after the government decided to make it a Union Territory, to start in Leh on the evening of 17th August, 2019.
- This is the first time that the Aadi Mahotsav is being held in Ladakh as in earlier times, the Tribal Ministry never got a response from the J&K administration.
- Aadi Mahotsav is a national tribal festival and a joint initiative of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India & Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED).
- TRIFED came into existence in 1987. It is a national-level apex organization functioning under the administrative control of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India.
- TRIFED has its registered and Head Office located in New Delhi and has a network of 13 Regional Offices located at various places in the country.
- The ultimate objective of TRIFED is socio-economic development of tribal people in the country by way of marketing development of the tribal products.
- The festival showcases traditional art and handicrafts and cultural heritage of the country.
- The theme of the festival is : “A celebration of the spirit of Tribal Craft, Culture and Commerce”. An effort is being made to take tribal commerce to the next level of digital and electronic transactions.
- Mahotsav will identify:
- Food and Forest Produces, which can be processed, value-added and marketed under the Van Dhan Scheme of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
- Artisans and master craftsmen and women of Ladakh for empanelling them as suppliers of TRIBES India, a brand under the TRIFED. The 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.
- 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.