Central government had launched PM Van Dhan Yojana and the new trifed.tribal.gov.in. In this Pradhan Mantri Mera Van Mera Dhan Mera Udyam Scheme, Ministry of Tribal Affairs will establish 50,000 Self Help Groups across the entire country. The main focus is to harness the forest wealth (non-timber produce) of upto Rs. 2 lakh crore and to utilize it for the welfare of the tribal people through self help groups (SHGs).
In the first phase, govt. had launch this scheme in 115 aspirational districts and now is getting implemented in all tribal areas. This scheme is ensuring that the benefits of value addition and appropriate prices are given to the tribal people. Govt. will implement it through a 3 stage value addition process resulting in the enhanced income for tribal. PM Van Dhan Yojana (PMVDY) is a movement spread across 27 states.
PM Van Dhan Scheme, Jan Dhan Scheme and Gobar Dhan Scheme are the flagship schemes of Modi government. PM Narendra Modi had launched this scheme on Dr. Ambedkar Jayanti on 14 April 2018 at Chhattisgarh.
Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana 2024 to Setup Van Dhan Vikas Kendras
PM Van Dhan Yojana (PMVDY) aims to tap the traditional knowledge and skills of tribals and add branding, packaging and marketing skills to optimize their income through a market led enterprise model by setting up of Van Dhan Kendras (VDVK). The ‘Van Dhan Karyakram’ under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs will establish 50,000 VDVK’s in the tribal areas across the country. It would ensure livelihood generation and empowerment of the tribal people. Van Dhan scheme has the cluster of Self Help Groups to support tribals and is the mainstay for their family income who are living in and around the forest areas.
Trifed Tribal Portal – Tribal Handicrafts / Handlooms & Van Dhan Essentials
Ministry of Tribal Affairs is the nodal department at central level and TRIFED is the nodal agency at national level. It is a well thought master plan for the socio-economic development of the tribal population of the country. Its crucial steps are to identify locations and MFPs, identify tribal gatherers, annual MFP gathering plan and finalize value added produces. The official link to access the portal is https://trifed.tribal.gov.in/. TRIFED is committed to transform the lives of tribals in India through:-
- Covid19-Mitigation: TRIFED, with a focus on tribal artisans of the country, is playing a key role in spreading awareness and mitigating COVID-19 pandemic in tribal populated regions.
- Unlocking Potential: TRIFED through successful implementation of Van Dhan Yojana seeks to shift the focus from mere collection of forest produce to value-addition of the high utility products.
- Tech for Tribals: TRIFED holds the hands of the capable tribal artisans to hone their entrepreneurial skills and earn a respectable livelihood.
- Go Global: The main aim is to ensure that over the next 3 years every Indian citizen, every person in the country will at least buy one product if not more which is produced by our tribal brothers and sisters.
As of now, there are 5,26,800 gatherers, 1756 VDVKs, 174 districts and Rs. 260 crores funded.
PM Mera Van Mera Dhan Mera Udyam Scheme
PM Van Dhan Scheme has a huge potential to empower the tribals. Govt. will focus on convergence with Panchayati Raj. This scheme will focus on building upon traditional knowledge and skill sets of tribal. This will be done through adding technology and IT for value addition. In forested tribal districts, govt. will make every possible effort to set-up tribal community owned Van Dhan Vikas Kendras.
Van Dhan Yojana Engaging Tribal Forest Produce Gatherers
As a nodal agency at national level for the implementation of Van Dhan Yojana, TRIFED provides end-to-end solutions. TRIFED has its footprint right from the very first stage of gathering/harvesting the forest produces that include tree-borne oilseeds, flowers, herbs, barks, leaves, honey and a variety of natural spices to the next levels of their primary processing, product development, packaging, transportation and marketing.
Features of PM Van Dhan Vikas Yojana
The main features of PM Van Dhan Vikas Yojana are as follows:-
- Initiative targeting livelihood generation for tribal gatherers and transforming them into entrepreneurs.
- 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 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.
- For further details, visit the link at https://trifed.tribal.gov.in/pmvdy
Trifed Focus Areas
Minor Forest Produce Development – The minor forest produces provides both subsistence and cash income for people living in or near forests. Around 57,000 out of 3,61,500 target beneficiaries onboarded.
Research and Development – Trifed has been undertaking R&D activities by sponsoring research on number of MFPs. Around 12,000 out of 23,000 target beneficiaries onboarded.
Retail Marketing – To further the cause of socio-economic development of the underdeveloped tribal population of the country, TRIFED, since its inception is engaged in establishing and functioning through its retail outlets placed in strategic locations in different parts of the country. Around 1,04,400 out of 1,27,000 target beneficiaries onboarded.
PM Van Dhan Yojana State Wise Implementation Status
In order to implement Van Dhan Yojana at state level, several Van Dhan Vikas Kendras (VDVK) are constructed each of which consists of 15 Self Help Groups (SHGs), each involving 20 tribal forest produce gatherers. Thus, 300 tribal forest gatherers are grouped together per VDVK to carry out sustainable micro-business operations. TRIFED plays a key role in imparting skill upgradation, training and providing necessary equipment and toolkits for processing, ongoing mentoring support etc. so as to ensure uninterrupted execution of routine but important activities at each VDVK.
PM Van Dhan Scheme targets to generate livelihood for tribal. This is done through harnessing non-timber forest produce and to utilize true wealth of forest (Van Dhan). The forest wealth is estimated to be around Rs. 2 lakh crore per year. This mission will promote and hold the collective strength of tribal through SHGs to achieve scale.
Procurement through SHGs under PM Van Dhan Yojana
Govt. has proposed to undertake grass root level procurement through SHGs in association of other Implementing Agencies. Other govt. departments will also work simultaneously to utilize the services of existing SHGs like Ajeevika. All SHGs will also be provided appropriate training on sustainable harvesting / collection, primary processing & value addition.
These SHGs will work in clusters and thus will fulfill the stock availability in tradable quantity. Moreover, govt. will also provide them with a facility of primary processing in all of these newly established Van Dhan Vikas Kendras.
For more details, visit the official website at https://trifed.tribal.gov.in/