Adivasi Mela- 2015 to begin on 26th January

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will inaugurate the 15 days long “ Adivasi Mela- 2015 ” on Republic Day to exhibit and show case the rich art, craft, culture, tradition, life style etc. of tribes across the state and sale the tribal products.

Addressing a Press Conference, Mr. Surendra Kumar, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Dept of SC & ST Development, Government of Odisha today said, “The Mela will be held from 26th January to 9th February and it certainly offers a good deal of opportunity to the city dwellers to see and learn the tribal culture and lifestyle from various part of the state.”

“Unlike other exhibitions, as many as 161 stalls will be provided to the tribes at free of cost in this Mela. Besides, 21 ITDAs and 8 Micro Projects are erecting stalls in the temporary tribal villages”, he added.

There will be eight broad segments in the Adivasi Mela, viz tribal Village, Tribal Haat, Govt. undertakings/ SHG Stalls to sale the tribal products, Govt/Corporate stalls to showcase CSR activities, Tribal Food Plaza, Tribal Art and Craft, Tribal Handloom & Textiles and Tribal Cultural Pandal.

It is expected that around 10lakh people will visit the Mela while the business transaction will touch 6 crore rupees.

Elaborate security has also been arranged for the visitors. As many as 32 CC cameras will be installed at different locations of the Mela. In addition, adequate Police, Fire, First AID, PHD, PWD camps wii be set up for this occasion.

Dr. AB Otta, Member Secretary, ATLC, Miss Rajashree Mohanty, Joint Secretary, Dept of SC & ST Development, and Mr. Manoj Mohanty, General Member, OSFDC were also present during the Press Conference.