NOAMUNDI: To celebrate and appreciate the ethnicity of the tribal communities in and around its areas of operation, Tata Steel’s Ore Mines & Quarries(OMQ) Division organised a grand agro forest food diversity fest Prajatiya Khadyotsav at Sport Complex, Noamundi today.
The event portrayed different aspects of tribal life from ethnic wear to cooking to daily lifestyle to celebration of different festivals by the tribal communities. A total of 70 Self Help Groups showcased 110 varieties of tribal food in the fest.
Geeta Koda, MLA, Jagannathpur gracing the occasion as Chief Guest said,”The sports complex has been converted into a big tribal kitchen today and it’s all looking beautiful. I am thankful to Tata Steel for providing such a platform to the tribal communities of this region.”
Pankaj Satija, General Manager (OMQ), Tata Steel said, “This event is one of our efforts to contribute to the National Biodiversity Target 1 and 11 which talks about biodiversity awareness to youth and strengthening of communities traditional knowledge on biodiversity respectively.”
From agro forest produce to display of tribal products to an array of mouthwatering tribal food like biri daal, saag pakora, spicy kurkuti chutni with kurut kunda and sweet dishes like mahua laddo and suji kakar, kept pulling people to the stalls.
Other guests present on the occasion included Dr Kartik Charan Lenka, Scientist, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Koraput, Odisha; Archana Relan, Founder, Miraculous Millets, Bhopal, Uttar Pradesh, Dr Krishna Prasad, Assistant Professor, Birsa Agriculture University, Ranchi; S N Vaidya, Research Officer, Institute of Forest Productivity ICFRE, Ranchi; P Patmajhi, Senior Technical Officer, Indian Institute of Natural Resins & Gums, Ranchi and Samaresh Bhandari, Block Development Officer, Noamundi.
