Focus: GS II- Government policies and intervention, Prelims
About Van Dhan Vikas Yojana:
Nodal: Ministry of Tribal affairs
- TRIFED is the implementation agency of the Van Dhan programme
- The program addresses the formidable problems that the Tribals face such as possession of land/house with no rights; restrictions in the collection of minor forest produce; exploitation by middlemen; displacement from national parks and wild sanctuaries, lack of development in forest villages etc.
- The Van Dhan Yojana or Van Dhan Scheme, a component of the The ‘Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support Price (MSP) & Development of Value Chain for MFP’
- An initiative targeting livelihood generation for tribal gatherers and transforming them into entrepreneurs.
- The idea is to set-up tribal community-owned Van Dhan Vikas Kendras (VDVKs) in predominantly forested tribal districts.
- A Kendra shall constitute of 15 tribal SHGs, each comprising of up to 20 tribal NTFP (Non timber forest products) gatherers or artisans i.e. about 300 beneficiaries per Van Dhan Kendra.
- 100% Central Government Funded with TRIFED providing Rs. 15 lakhs for each 300 member Van Dhan Kendra.
TRIFED:
Nodal: Ministry of tribal affairs
- The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) came into existence in 1987.
- It is a national-level apex organization functioning under the administrative control of Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
Objectives
- The ultimate objective of TRIFED is socio-economic development of tribal people in the country by way of marketing development of the tribal products.
- TRIFED acts as a facilitator and service provider for tribes to sell their product.
- The approach by TRIFED aims to empower tribal people with knowledge, tools and pool of information so that they can undertake their operations in a more systematic and scientific manner.
