In a bid to unite and encourage tribal communities across the country to conserve the rich cultural heritage they possess, the fifth annual event hosted by Tata Steel under its Corporate Social responsibility, named SAMVAD will be held at Gopal Maidan in Jamshedpur between November 15 and 19.

The conclave is set to provide a platform for tribal community leaders and experts from every field to exchange ideas and hold dialogues for safeguarding their tribal identity. Tata Steel CSR Head Sourav Roy during a brief media interaction said on Thursday that SAMVAD -2018 is based on the theme – ‘Coming Together for Social Change’, where participants from 25 States of the country will be present.

He said that the event is an effort to bring tribal communities on a single platform so that tribal voices could be heard and made prominent.

The five-day long programme is the fifth in the series after beginning in the year 2014 on themes including culture, languages, health and youth leadership. Earlier six regional Samvads have been organised in different cities including Ranchi.

Roy informed that this year tribal handicrafts from 17 States, 100 healers from 11 states and 65 kinds of tribal cuisines from nine states will be there in the event at Gopal Maidan, which will be transformed into a tribal village in the Steel City. Also, there will be musicians playing musical instruments that are on the verge of extinction, he said.

“We are also trying to instil tribalism among kids, who are gradually forgetting their language and culture in the urban areas. For, this 350 Language Learning Centres have been set up in Jharkhand and Odisha,” he said.

Roy said that the communities are now also engaged in reviving different kinds of dance forms and music that are gradually becoming obsolete in the rural backdrop.