The Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) launched the Van Dhan scheme in 2018 intending to improve the tribal income through the value addition of tribal products. In this article, you can read all about the Van Dhan Scheme for the IAS Exam.
It is a component of ‘MSP for MFP Scheme’ – The ‘Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support Price (MSP) & Development of Value Chain for MFP’. The Van Dhan Programme covers 27 states and 307 districts.
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What is Van Dhan Scheme?
The scheme aims at the economic development of tribals involved in the collection of Minor Food Produces (MFPs) by helping them in optimum utilization of natural resources and providing them with a sustainable livelihood.
Under this scheme, the Van Dhan Vikas Kendras constituted, provide skill up-gradation and capacity building training and setting up of primary processing and value addition facilities.
TRIFED released 200 Days Report of Van Dhan Yojana in March 2020. The salient features highlighted in the report are mentioned below:
- Target to increase the sale of Van Dhan products to Rs. 10000 crore by 2023 from Rs. 300 crore in 2019.
- 1205 Van Dhan Vikas Kendras have been established. There are 15 Self Help Groups (SHGs) and 300 beneficiaries under each Van Dhan Kendra.
- The number of beneficiaries is 3.7 lakh.
- 18075 Self Help Groups are associated with Van Dhan Scheme.
- Rs.16579 lakh fund has been sanctioned for the implementation and execution of the scheme.
- It is 100% centrally-funded scheme.
- TRIFED has taken up research projects on Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFPs) to develop innovative and low-cost process/ technology for optimum utilization of available MFPs.
- TRIFOOD Project – A joint project of Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Ministry of Food Processing Industries for the boost in tribal income.
- Tech For Tribals Programme – It is an Entrepreneurship Skill Development Program which TRIFED is running in collaboration with IITs, IIMs, TISS, etc for 27 states.
Candidates can also read similar topics below:
| National Commission for Scheduled Tribes | Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 |
| Welfare Schemes for Vulnerable Sections in India | Scheduled and Tribal Areas |
Implementation of the Van Dhan Scheme
The implementation of the Van Dhan Yojana is administrated through the Ministry of Tribal Affairs at different levels:
| National Level | Nodal Department is the Ministry of Tribal Affairs |
| Central Level | The Nodal Agency is TRIFED India (Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India) |
| State Level | State Nodal Agencies for Minor Forest Produce Schemes (MFP) and District Collectors |
| Unit Level | An SHG consisting of approx 30 members to form a Van Dhan Vikas Samuh. |
- The local Van Dhan Vikas Kendras are managed by a Managing Committee (a Self-Help Group) that consists of Van Dhan SHG representatives.
- At the unit level, the members of Van Dhan Vikas Samuh are then trained and provided with working capital to add value to the products, which they collect from the jungle.
The tribals will be trained on sustainable harvesting, collection, primary processing, and value addition. They will be formed into clusters to aggregate their stock in tradable quantity and link them with the facility of primary processing in Van Dhan Vikas Kendra.
These Kendras play a significant role in the economic progress and development of tribes. They also help the tribals utilize their natural resources in the best possible way providing them with a sustainable livelihood based on Minor Forest Produce from the MFP-rich areas.
The central and state governments will provide necessary support by creating infrastructure and providing an enabling environment for undertaking value addition on systematic scientific lines.
TRIFED
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs launched the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) in 1987.
TRIFED has two significant functions:
- Retail Marketing of Tribal Products
- Development of MFP (Minor Forest Produce)
Objectives
- Promoting and encouraging Socio-Economic development of the tribal community by improving and developing the market of the tribal commodities.
- TRIFED acts as a medium and a facilitator that helps the tribes sell their products.
- Some of the tribal products include tribals art, textiles, metal craft, tribal painting pottery, etc.
- These products and their sale contribute to a major part of their income.
Read more on TRIFED for UPSC in the linked article.
Van Dhan Yojana:- Download PDF Here
UPSC Preparation:
| Forest Rights Act, 2006 | Topic Wise UPSC Prelims Questions PDF with Solutions |
| Tribals and Issues of Land Rights | Forest Survey of India |
| UPSC Admit Card 2021 | IAS Eligibility Criteria |
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