BHUBANESWAR: Cultivating the elements of adivasi way of life in the society at large is the need of the hour, opined renowned development economist Jean Dreze on Wednesday. Addressing the 31st Gopinath Mohanty Memorial Lecture here on the topic ‘The Adivasi Way of Life: Relic of the Past or Wave of the Future?’ the Belgian-born Indian economist argued that “adivasi way of life is a wave of the future may sound like wishful thinking but failing that there may be no future at all.”
“If we are to develop the culture of cooperation and solidarity, we need to take a leaf out of the tribal way of life. The rich tradition of democratic living in an adivasi society is a useful source of hope and inspiration,” he said.
Stating that democracy is a mode of associate living, he said the democratic principles are already there in the adivasi communities of Eastern India. “They are freedom loving people who do not submit to arbitrary authority. We have much to learn from their culture,” Dreze said and added that Gopinath Mohanty himself drew people’s attention to this in his writings.
Dreze also said that apart from being a great writer and an inspiring thinker Gopinath Mohanty was a public spirited administrator who spared no efforts to understand, befriend and help adivasis of southern Odisha during his early years as an officer of Odisha Administrative Service in Koraput and Rayagada.
He studied their way of life, learnt their languages and shared their joys and sorrows. Culture Secretary Madhusudan Padhi said late Mohanty worked extensively for the tribals in Koraput and other parts of Odisha. “As a writer he played a great role in popularising modern Odia literature in India and abroad,” he said. Former BPUT VC and Mohanty’s son Prof Omkarnath Mohanty also spoke.