TRIFED’S start-up scheme offers ray of hope for home-bound tribal labourers
NEW DELHI: Tackling an unprecedented crisis of nature and combating the challenges thrown by the COVID-19 pandemic require different and innovative approaches as one segment that has been severely impacted during the ongoing crisis has been the tribal population.
In such a scenario, the Van Dhan start-ups, established under the scheme initiated by TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, has emerged as a source of employment generation for tribal gatherers and forest dwellers and also the home-bound labour and artisans.
During a virtual media briefing on Monday, TRIFED Managing Director Pravir Krishna explained in detail about the Van Dhan Yojana and provided a snapshot of what it intends to achieve and how the scheme has been faring in these current times.
The TRIFED MD said that 1,205 tribal enterprises have been established to provide employment opportunities to 3.6 lakh tribal gatherers and 18,000 self-help groups in 22 states.
“The call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to go vocal for local is a mantra in these troubled times and it has been adapted to include mera van mera dhan mera udyam, he said, adding that the aim of the start-ups scheme is to treble the coverage to 10 lakh tribal gatherers through the COVID-19 relief plan of the Tribal Affairs Ministry under article 275(I). The start-up scheme that was started in Nagaland and followed by Maharashtra in December 2019 has spread to all 22 states in a very short span of time.
Giving details about Manipur, Krishna said, “A total of 77 Van Dhan Kendras (VDK) have been established in the state for value addition and processing of forest produces. The VDKS have reported the sale of MFP products worth Rs 49.1 lakh since September 2019. The products such as amla juice, tamarind amla candy and plum jams, etc are in much demand.”
Hailing the efforts of startups in Manipur, which have turned out to be a model enterprise for the rest of the country, in terms of the packaging, innovations, and training, Krishna said that Manipur is a ‘champion state'.