Bhubaneswar: As a milestone in taking the famous Adivasi Mela of Odisha beyond State and national boundaries, Department of SC and ST Development and Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare have come up with hybrid model of the Mela by converting the challenges of Covid-19 to an opportunity.
The Social Media Plan ( SMP) for the purpose was launched by chief secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra from Lokseba Bhawan today in the presence of development commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena and principal secretary of the department Ranjana Chopra.
Inaugurating the SMP, chief secretary Mohapatra said that as “a positive response to the unprecedented pandemic, department has excellently planned the hybrid model. Adivasi Mela is widely popular within and outside the State. This hybrid model will further widen its popularity by extending it to the persons who are unable to visit it physically’. Mohapatra added, “The virtual mode of the mela will have a marketing platform through which interested people can purchase the tribal products’. Sri Mohapatra advised the department to develop a permanent digital marketing platform so that people from different parts of the globe can buy the products throughout the year.
Speaking on the occasion, development commissioner Jena said. “This canterstick endeavor of the department will give global linkage to Odisha tribal producers and artisans”. He advised to make the marketing platform a sustainable source of rewarding income for tribal people of Odisha.
Outlining the SMP, principal secretary Chopra said, “It will be a comprehensive plan with multiple components. Dedicated handles on facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedln and YouTube have been created to reach out to more and more people. The themes have been built around various tribes, their life and culture and their heritage”. She added, “Various activities will be undertaken to engage the social media followers and keep them updated on the events of the Odisha Adivasi Mela 2021. The cultural programme will be available on virtual mode. One can also have a virtual visit to Adivasi Museum through the Mela platform.
Further, principal secretary Chopra said that the Mela would also be held physically from 26.01.2021 to 09.02.2021 in the Adivasi Exhibition Ground located at Unit-1 area of Bhubaneswar, and, its timing would be from 11 AM till 7 PM of each day. All Covid-19 protocols would be followed scrupulously. Online registration facility would be made available from 23.01.2021 through the website of the Adivasi Mela-2021 for convenience of the intending visitors. Interested people may avail this facility and may register online for their smooth entry into the Mela Ground. However, Principal Secretary clarified, “Online registration for visiting the Mela is only for the sake of convenience but not mandatory”.
Secretary electronics and information technology Manoj Kumar Mishra, special secretary and director ST SC Research and Training
Institute Dr A.B. Otta, managing director tribal development cooperative corporation Mansi Nimbhal along with senior officers from Delhi and other places joined the occasion on physical and digital mode.
