Kyndiah honours tribal artistes

New Delhi, Jan 31 (UNI) Minister for Tribal Affairs P R Kyndiah hosted a reception here today in the honour of the Tribal Guests and the Tableau Artistes, who participated in this year's Republic Day Parade.

Members of Parliament belonging to Scheduled Tribes were also present on the occasion.

Welcoming the guests, the Minister of Tribal Affairs said the Government has given tribal welfare very high priority and was making all efforts to bring them in mainstream. As a part of these efforts, the Government of India invites the tribal guests each year to provide an opportunity to witness the Republic Day Celebrations in the National Capital. Therefore, the Status/Union Territories are asked to nominate such tribal representatives who had not witnessed the Republic Day Celebrations earlier.

He said this practice is intended to facilitate the tribals to overcome their isolation and sense of shyness and hasten the process of their integration with the rest of society.

Mr Kyndiah also informed about the schemes and programmes being implemented by his Ministry for the welfare and development of the tribals. He mentioned that the recent enactment of The Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 represented a major shift in approach towards addressing the concerns of forest dwelling tribals by providing tenurial security, livelihood and traditional rights to those who have been living in forests for generations without legal protection. He was particularly happy that the Government had taken this step in the direction to undo the historical injustice being inflicted on the forest dwelling scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers so far.

This year 24 States/Union Territories have deputed a total of 48 tribal representatives. These 48 tribal guests represent 26 schedule tribes in the country from remote tribal areas of the country and 12 tribal guests belong to the Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs).

The tribal guests, besides witnessing the Republic Day Parade at Raj Path and the Beating the Retreat at Vijay Chowk, also called on the President , the Vice-President and the Prime Minister during their stay in Delhi. They also visited Rajghat and paid homage to the Father of the Nation. These guests also attended the various other functions, such as the NCC Rally at Parade Grounds, Delhi Cantt and the Reception hosted in their honour by the Minister of Defence. The tribal guests were also taken round the historical places in Delhi and in particular enjoyed the ride in Metro train.

UNI