The summit highlighted India’s enabling environment for innovation and entrepreneurship – including actions by the government to empower the tribals, increase the ease of doing business, eliminating unnecessary regulations, and supporting startups.
Chaired by Shri. Dinesh Kashyap, MP, Bastar, the summit also included other distinguished guests like Smt. Devati Karma, MLA, Dantewada; Smt. Kamala Vinay Nag, Adhyaksh, Zilla Panchayat, Shri. Saurabh Kumar, IAS, Collector, Dantewada and Shri. P Sundar Raj, DIG, South-Bastar. Stalwarts like Shri. Tenzing Bodoza, Owner of the Bodosa Farms in Assam, Shri. Rohit Pillai, Director, Rural Caravan; Shri. Shakeb Nabi, Country Director for Christian Aid in Bangladesh and Smt. Rashmi Tiwari, Founder and Director of Aahan Tribal Foundation of India graced the occasion.
The Guest of Honour, Dr. M.S.Swaminathan, spoke on how tribal entrepreneurship is an important component of human entrepreneurship and how tribal women in particular have contributed extensively in conserving biodiversity. He said, “It is high time we respect tribal wisdom and bring the tribals into mainstream development. Their invaluable knowledge will help us with innovative ideas to improve our livelihood and environment security.”
Dr. Raman Singh, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh through a video message expressed his happiness on Dantewada being chosen to host a summit of this magnitude. Emphasizing on Bastar’s abundant natural resources, he said, “Demand for organic products has been largely increasing in contemporary world. Summits like these will definitely help to reduce the gap between global market and local entrepreneurs. They not only provide a platform to our tribal brothers to take their work to global level but also help them avail benefits of globalization.”
The Minister of State for Science and Technology & Earth Sciences, Dr. Y.S Chowdary who connected via a video conference stressed on developing a robust infrastructure to meet the requirements of the tribal community and ensure inclusive development. He highlighted on how tribals have huge potential to grow as they are pioneers in making optimal use of natural resources.
An informative presentation was made by Shri. Sai Satish, Founder & CEO of Indian Servers and administrator of Andhra hackers, on ‘Digital marketing for tribal products’ alongside Shri. Nagararaja Prakasam, Founder Chairman, Native Angels Network (NAN) who spoke about ‘Social impact through entrepreneurship.’
Delighted to host this summit, Shri. Saurabh Kumar, IAS, Collector, Dantewada said, “The inhabitants of this naturally blessed land have been experts in the knowledge of herbs and other forest produce for centuries. Summits like these boost the morale of the tribals, promote a spirit of brotherhood, generate livelihood opportunities and help facilitate global outreach of locally made organic products.”
Addressing the august gathering, Shri. Shrikar Nayak, Advisor, NITI Aayog, said, “It is inspiring to witness an overwhelming participation of women for this summit. Summits like these help foster public-private partnership and share best practices to empower the tribal community.”
Other dignitaries present at the occasion were Shri. KVNS Srinivas, Sr. Scientist, CIMAP, Regional Centre, Hyderabad; Dr. P.G. Prabhakar Rao, Sr. Technical Officer, CFTRI; Shri. Tamatam Anand, Defence Food Research Laboratory; Dr. Yogesh Kulkarni, Executive Director, Vigyan Ashram, Pune; Shri. Vivek Kumar, National Innovation Foundation Bhubaneswar and Shri. Akash Badave, CEO, Bhoomgadi Farmer Producer Co. Ltd. Dantewada.
Interactive sessions on ‘Alternative Livelihood Options’ and ‘Forest and Agro-based Entrepreneurship’ enlightened the audience in promoting sustainable and inclusive development.
The evening was concluded by enthralling performances on captivating beats of ‘Gaur Madiya’ and ‘Raut Nacha’, famous dance forms of tribal culture. Various forest produce and handicrafts were also exhibited at the summit. Delectable tribal cuisine was served to the guests, providing them a taste of natural ingredients and produce.
The Global Tribal Entrepreneurship Summit at Dantewada, Chhattisgarh is a part of 8th Global Entrepreneurship Summit being held in India from November 28th to 30th, 2017 in partnership with the Government of the United States of America. This summit will be addressed by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri. Narendra Modi and the US delegation will be led by Ms. Ivanka Trump, Advisor to President Donald Trump.
