New Delhi
President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday said that the Adi Karmayogi Abhiyan (AKA) is a remarkable effort for dialogue and cooperation towards shaping the future of the tribal society and the country. This initiative reflects our collective resolve to build an inclusive and equitable India, she stated adding our effort should be to ensure that tribal communities are not only the beneficiaries of development, but also co-creators of the nation’s future.
Terming AKA a transformational initiative to empower the tribal communities through responsible governance, she was happy to note that since the launch of this campaign in July this year, in one lakh villages, 20 lakh Adi-Karmayogis, including officials, volunteers, women from self-help groups and tribal youth, are being mobilized. AKA is world’s largest grassroots tribal leadership programme.
She was addressing a group of eminent tribal people from diverse backgrounds, representing various states, who called on her under the AKA initiative. A series of such meetings of tribal leaders have been organised at Rashtrapati Bhavan so far. Today’s was the last of this series for this phase.
The President noted that one lakh Adi Seva Kendras have been identified as single window service and grievance redressal hubs. Dharti Aba Janjati Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan is providing essential infrastructure and services to over 63,000 tribal-dominated villages.
The Forest Rights Act became an important means of social justice, equality, and environmental protection. She, however, stated that real empowerment does not come from schemes alone. True empowerment is shaped by the recognition of the rights of the people. It is strengthened by respect for those rights and sustained by the representation of tribal communities. She urged members of tribal communities to take active responsibility for their development journey. She advised them to express their views on various platforms and make the systems accountable.
The President said that we all together, with the active participation of our tribal brothers and sisters, should work to build a society and country where there is an environment of equality, justice and respect, where the culture and traditions of the tribal society are preserved, and the rights of our tribal brothers and sisters are protected. She called for using technology for connecting tribal people to the mainstream while preserving their distinct identity and rich culture.
The President was happy to note the recent launch of Adi Vaani, an AI-based translation tool for tribal languages. She described it as an important step towards language and education transformation in tribal areas.
During the meeting, a film on Adi Karmayogi Abhiyan was screened before the audience. Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Shri Jual Oram and Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Shri Durgadas Uikey, were also present during the meeting.
For its part, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is holding a two-day national conference on AKA with project officers of Integrated Tribal Development Agencies (ITDAs) at Bharat Mandapam here to chart the roadmap for tribal development initiatives in 2025-26 and beyond. The conference brings together ITDA project officers, state tribal secretaries and commissioners from over 20 States.
Intending to finalise future action frameworks for Viksit Bharat, the conference will see discussions on flagship programmes like AKA, Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan, Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM-JANMAN), and implementation of the Forest Rights Act.
ENDNOTE
A major highlight will be the launch of Adi Sanskriti, a digital academy and e-learning platform with an online marketplace for tribal artisans to promote art, culture, crafts and knowledge systems, it added. It is being as the world’s first digital tribal university. The launch is scheduled for September 10 (Wednesday).
