Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana of Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED was launched on 14th April, 2018 during the celebrations of Ambedkar Jayanti at Bijapur, Chattisgarh. The programme 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 (VDVKs)”. It is a retail marketing led value addition plan for Minor Forest Produce (MFP), meant for forest-based tribes to optimize the tribal income, locally
Van Dhan Vikas Kendra
- 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.
- The establishment of “Van Dhan Vikas Kendra” is for providing skill upgradation and capacity building training and setting up of primary processing and value addition facility.
- The government envisages to establish 50,000 ‘Van Dhan Vikas Kendras’
Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana Features
- Under the scheme, 10 Self Help Groups of 30 Tribal gatherers is constituted
- They are then trained and provided with working capital to add value to the products, which they collect from the jungle.
- Training and technical support is provided by TRIFED.
- It is proposed to develop 30,000 such centres in the country.
- The scheme covers all the 27 States & 307 predominant tribal districts in the country
TRIFOOD Parks
TRIFOOD are the food processing parks that are being set up under the joint initiative of TRIFED, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, and the Ministry of the food processing industry. The TRIFOOD Parks will procure raw materials from Van Dhan Kendras. Then they will be processed and sold across the country through the tribes India outlets.The agreement for setting up 5 TRIFOOD parks was signed between TRIFED Managing Director Pravir Krishna and Akhil Bhartiya Vanvasi Ashram General Secretary Yogesh Bapat.
Progress under the scheme
1205 Tribal Enterprises have been established to provide employment opportunities to 3.6 lakh tribal gatherers and 18000 Self-help groups in 22 States
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