Indian President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated the National Tribal Festival ‘Aadi Mahotsav’ in New Delhi on Sunday and said the event will highlight and promote tribal heritage.

"Such festivals provide a great opportunity for the entrepreneurs, artisans, and artists of the tribal society to connect with the market," Murmu said.

The President said that the crafts, food, dress and jewellery, medical practices, household equipment, and sports of the tribal society are the precious heritage of our country.

"At the same time, they are also modern and scientific because they show a natural harmony with nature and the ideals of a sustainable lifestyle," she said.

The President said that during the last 10 years, many effective steps have been taken for the overall development of the tribal society.

The Tribal Development Budget has increased five times to about one lakh twenty-five thousand crore rupees.

Apart from this, the Tribal Welfare Budget Allocation has increased three times to about 15 thousand crore rupees.

The idea behind paying special attention to the development of tribal society is that only when the tribal society progresses, our country will also progress in the true sense.

That is why, along with increasing the sense of pride toward tribal identity, multi-dimensional efforts are being made to develop the tribal society at a fast pace.

The President was happy to note that a lot of progress is being made towards the economic empowerment and employment of the tribal society.

She highlighted that education plays the most important role in the development of any society.

She said that it is a matter of happiness that about 1.25 lakh tribal children are getting school education through more than 470 Eklavya Model Residential Schools in the country.

In the last 10 years, 30 new medical colleges have been started in tribal-dominated areas.

A national mission has been launched to solve a specific problem related to the health of the tribal society.

Under this mission, the target has been set to eradicate sickle cell anemia by the year 2047.

Aadi Mahotsav is being organised by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs from February 16 to 24, 2025 at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi. This festival aims to provide a glimpse into the rich and diverse traditional culture of the tribal communities of our country.