AIR Spotlight - Tribal Pride Day

AIR Spotlight is an insightful program featured daily on the All India Radio Newsonair. In this program, many eminent panellists discuss issues of importance which can be quite helpful in IAS exam preparation. In this article, the topic of discussion is the Tribal Pride Day observance.

Context:

The Spotlight conversation highlights the Prime Minister’s vision of acknowledging and empowering the Tribal Communities for their continuous contribution to nation-building.

Panellists:

1. Amitabh Sinha: Political Expert
2. Anand Shrivastav: Spotlight Coordinator

Tribal Pride Day

• The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved to declare 15 November as Tribal Pride Day which is the birth date of tribal leader Birsa Munda.
• The Declaration of Tribal Pride Day is a concrete step in the direction of national acknowledgement for the contribution of tribal communities.
• The Prime Minister himself offered shradhanjali to the statue of Birsa Munda in New Delhi and then inaugurated a museum for tribal legacy in Ranchi, Jharkhand, on the 15th of November.
• The Prime Minister also visited and addressed tribal people in Bhopal continuing the one-week Tribal Communities Appreciation Programmes.
• The upliftment of tribal communities has been a priority of the Prime Minister as in 2016, on the occasion of Independence Day, he announced that 12 museums would be opened up in different parts of India for safeguarding and showcasing the Tribal Legacy.

 Birsa Munda

• Birsa Munda was born at Ulihatu, presently in Jharkhand on 15th November 1875 into a Munda family. He converted to Christianity and became Birsa David in order to receive an education from a missionary school where he was highly influenced by the national movement there. 
• He announced his declaration against the British Agrarian policies which were suppressive for the tribal people and began the Munda Ulgulan. 
• He also started his own religion and proclaimed he was god’s messenger.
• The British caught him in 1900 from Jamkopai forest, Chakradharpur. He died on June 9th 1900 while lodged at the Ranchi jail aged at the age of 25 supposedly from cholera.

Lack of Literature

• There has been sufficient literature about freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh and Subhas Chandra Bose, however, our history has limited sources of information regarding the tribal leaders and their contributions.
• The Prime Minister envisions presenting the glorious contribution of tribal communities in the history of India.
• The government has already been working in this direction by acknowledging historical tribal personalities like Gond Rani Kamlapati.

TRIFED (Tribal Federation)

• TRIFED was established in August 1987 under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 1984 by the Government of India as a National level Cooperative body under the administrative control of the then Ministry of Welfare of India, with the basic mandate of bringing about socio-economic development of tribals of the country.
• The ultimate objective of TRIFED is the socio-economic development of tribal people.
• The government has been actively involved in the process of the development of tribal people through TRIFED.

Know more about TRIFED in the linked article.

Appreciation Across The Nation

• The vision of the Prime Minister has been appreciated across the nation and is considered as an important step in acknowledging and uplifting the tribal communities.
• The present Minister of Tribal Affairs, Arjun Munda tweeted thanking the Prime Minister for the declaration of Tribal Pride Day.

Read more Gist of AIR Spotlight here.

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