Tribal conclave draws healers from across NE region

Shillong: Tata Steel took its latest regional tribal conclave Samvaad to the North-Eastern State of Shillong after Vododara in Gujarat and Hosahalli in Karnataka. The regional conclave held in Shillong in partnership with North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), witnessed the cumulation of over 120 tribal leaders and healers from Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.
The initiative is a precursor to Tata Steel’s flagship tribal conclave Samvaad that is held at Jamshedpur in the month of November every year. The theme of this year’s Samvaad is ‘Tribal Health Systems’. Beginning this year, Tata Steel has launched regional editions of the conclave in different parts of the country. The regional edition of Samvaad successfully concluded on Saturday with the two-day event held here in the city.
Besides healthcare and traditional healing practices, the deliberations veered round tribal economic activities, entrepreneurship, education, welfare of women and children, preservation of cultural identity and apprehensions of mainstream and tribal conflict.
Cultivation and preservation of medicinal plants, documentation and health issues pertaining to tribal women and medicinal properties like anti-cancer and anti-rabies strains found in rare plant species that grow in several states in the North-East were among the topics discussed at the conclave.
Tribal Indian medicine owes its roots back to thousands of years when the human race sought all remedies in Nature. Centuries down the line, this practice still remains strongly embedded among the tribal communities, and is dynamic enough to compete in the world of advanced science and medicine. This is the topic of this year’s discussion at the tribal conclave that aims to unveil a world of tribal remedies.
Prof S K Srivastava, Vice Chancellor, NEHU, said during the conclave that, “Samvaad is a great opportunity to discuss indigenous tribal-centric issues including medicine, culture, sustainability and we as an institution should also have a  responsibility where tribal issues are discussed for the larger benefit of the tribal community”.