Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : Combating the challenges thrown by the Covid-19 Pandemic require innovative approaches. 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 a 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.
A media briefing through Webinar was organised by TRIFED on June 15, 2020, to familiarise them with this innovative approach and the progress made by the Van Dhan start-ups so that they can further spread awareness among people. The webinar titled “Van Dhan: Tribal Start-ups Bloom in India” was chaired by Pravir Krishna, Managing Director, TRIFED, and was attended by over 40 participants. Ms Nanu Bhasin, ADG, PIB, and Abhishek Singh, CEO, MyGov, were among those who attended the webinar.
Krishna began his welcome address with a quick introduction of 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. He informed 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 slogan “Go Vocal for Local”, a Mantra in these troubled times, has been adapted to include ‘Go Vocal for Local Go Tribal – Mera Van Mera Dhan Mera Udyam’.
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 Ministry of Tribal Affairs under article 275(I).Started in 2019, the Start-ups spread rather quickly to all the 22 states, almost became a competition once the states realised the value added by this initiative.
Post this snapshot, Krishna presented some real-life examples from states like Nagaland and Rajasthan to underline the critical significance of this programme for tribal livelihoods, which ensures that the proceeds from the sales of these value-added products go to the tribals directly. The value-added products benefit largely from the packaging and marketing that these tribal enterprises provide.
He mentioned that 2,000 products have been identified throughout the country. A bird’s eye view was provided to the participants and samples such as wild honey, broomsticks, donna pattal, Samidha sticks, coffee, bay leaf, bel pulp were displayed. He reiterated that the uniqueness of the whole exercise is that it has managed to create market linkages and to transform tribal gatherers into entrepreneurs. Many of these tribal enterprises are connected to markets and have received many orders already. The efforts of the start-ups in Manipur have turned out to be a model enterprise for the rest of the country in terms of the packaging, innovations, and training. Krishna recounted the entire success story in Manipur and hailed it as a Champion State.
In Manipur, 77 Van Dhan Kendras have been established for value addition and processing of forest produces. The Van Dhan Kendras have reported sales of MFP products worth Rs. 49.1 lakh since September 2019! What stood out in the case of Manipur is the exemplary food safety and hygiene standards adopted by these 77 centres that have been established, the attractive packaging of the processed products such as Amla juice, tamarind amla candy and plum jams, and the innovative branding and marketing of these products. A mobile van service has also been started in one of the districts to ensure the selling of these products, according to a PIB release.
Krishna also spoke about the immediate next steps regarding the Van Dhan Start-up programme. The first next step is to expand the current coverage of 18,000 SHGs to 50,000 Van Dhan SHGs and to treble the coverage to 10 lakh tribal gatherers through the Covid-19 relief plan of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs under article 275(I).