Good to see tribal women's income increasing in short time: Ackermann
German ambassador to India, Philipp Ackermann, who was on his maiden visit to the state, on Wednesday visited mango plantations run by tribal women, a park developed from a closed coal mine, and he had a fruitful meeting with chief minister Hemant Soren.
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Talking to Dhrubajyoti Malakar, he shares the experiences of his visit. Excerpts...
How was your experience visiting Jharkhand for the first time?
A very nice experience, though it was a short one. We went to see this tribal community of women, who started growing mango trees to improve their livelihoods and their prosperity with the help of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). It's heartening to see how strong the women in the tribal communities are and how, in a very short time, they could increase their income.
We also went to the Tata Steel coal mine, and we were led around the beautiful park they made out of a dump.
We were shown how Tata tries to work with nature and the local populace to reduce the harmful impacts of coal mining.
What are the main highlights of your meeting with chief minister Hemant Soren?
I had a very good and substantive meeting with the chief minister. He was very good and very intellectual. I was inspired by our discussion.
So, it was a full day in Jharkhand. And I will tell you one thing — the chief minister, I don't know whether he knew or not, but he brought the best mangoes for the dessert. I was just over the moon and he gave me a big bag of Malda mangoes. Although the women grew Banganapalle mangoes, he gave me the Malda one.
And those were very good.
Are you looking forward to visiting Jharkhand again?
I will certainly come back. Not only for the mangoes, of course.
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There is a lot to discover in Jharkhand and I would like to come back. I had the nicest impression of a state which was, until now, unknown to me, and I will certainly try to improve my knowledge of Jharkhand.
In your keynote address at the Green and Sustainable Development Partnership conversation series, you mentioned that coal mines are transforming into tourism spots in Germany. How do you see Jharkhand's potential in that area?
Many coal mines in Germany have been transformed into tourism spots and recreational areas for the local population. Jharkhand also possesses a great potential in that sector. We have seen what the Tata Steel mine did. Migratory birds are coming again to the water basin of the park. Even if the state is still conducting coal mining, a lot of things can be done. I think there are good examples here in Jharkhand.
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