Murmu calls for special attention to development of backward tribal communities

Bhuabneswar, Feb 29  President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday called for special attention to the development of more backward people in tribal communities.
Inaugurating a national seminar on ‘Tribes of Keonjhar: People, Culture and Heritage’, organized by Dharanidhar University at Gamharia in Odisha’s Keonjhar district, the President said if any community or group is left out of the mainstream of the country's development, we cannot call it inclusive development.
Stating that Keonjhar is a tribal-dominated district rich in natural beauty and home to Munda, Kohl, Bhuiyan, Juang, Saanti, Bathudi, Gond, Santhal, Orang, and Kondh, she urged the researchers to go to the tribal villages and understand the condition of the villagers.
The researchers, the President said, should reach concrete conclusions by discussing various aspects of the preservation of tribal culture.
The Government of India, she said, has launched the PM-JANMAN to empower PVTGs. This initiative will provide livelihood, skill development, education, health, housing, tap water, sanitation, and nutrition.
The President said various schemes are also being implemented to empower all tribal people and expressed her happiness that efforts are being made to preserve and promote tribal arts, cultures, and crafts and to protect tribal self-respect.
Murmu said that tribal people give utmost importance to equality and democratic values. Not ‘I’, ‘We’ is the basic mantra of the tribal society.
There is no discrimination between men and women in tribal societies. This approach is the basis of women empowerment, she said adding that if we all adopt these values then the process of women empowerment can be accelerated.
Addressing the teachers, the President said they should pay attention to research along with teaching.
There is a wealth of traditional knowledge in tribal societies and the experienced tribal brothers and sisters know the art of identifying trees, plants and herbs, using them, and identifying their special medicinal properties.
The researchers should do research on those topics and inspire interested students to do research, the President said and urged them to pay attention to the application of traditional knowledge for the benefit of human society and making an effort to save them from extinction.
The President said the students have immense possibilities and potential and can earn a livelihood and become self-reliant through their education and skills.
She also inaugurated an exhibition of tribal costumes, jewelry, and food items on the occasion.