Shri Arjun Munda, Hon’ble Minister for Tribal Affairs launches the tribal livelihoods initiative, “Sankalp Se Siddhi – Mission Van Dhan”
New premises of TRIFED headquarters inaugurated
Seven new Tribes India Outlets inaugurated virtually at Jagdalpur, Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Sarnath
Immunity boosting hampers, Tribes India Coffee table book among other highlights of this mega-launch event
‘Sankalp Se Siddhi’ – Mission Van Dhan, was launched by Shri Arjun Munda, Hon’ble Minister for Tribal Affairs on June 15, 2021. The event also witnessed the inauguration and launch of several other programmes, including the new premises of the TRIFED headquarters. Keeping in line with the Hon’ble Prime Minister's clarion call Vocal for Local and to build and Atmanirbhar Bharat, TRIFED has been coming up with several initiatives, all aimed at sustainable livelihoods for our tribal population.
Shri Arjun Munda formally inaugurated the new office at 4:30 pm by cutting the ribbon in the presence of Smt Renuka Singh, Minister of State, Shri Bhaskar Khulbe, Advisor to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Ramesh Chand Meena, Chairman TRIFED, and Shri Pravir Krishna, Managing Director, TRIFED.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Munda remarked, “I am delighted to inaugurate the new premises of TRIFED and unveil some noteworthy initiatives that TRIFED has been working towards, such as Sankalp se Siddhi – Mission Van Dhan. Implementation of this crucial mission will definitely result in the transformation of the tribal ecosystem in our country. Today is definitely a momentous day for tribal people, as today sees the culmination of such valuable efforts the TRIFED team has put in consistently over the past years. It is commendable that the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the TRIFED team has achieved this, despite the difficult circumstances of the past two years.”
Smt Renuka Singh, Hon’ble Minister of State, Ministry of Tribal Affairs said, “It is noteworthy that the new initiatives being unveiled today take care of all aspects of tribal empowerment, be it spreading awareness about the richness of tribal lifestyle and natural produce with the Immunity Boost product hampers and the attractively designed H&IG products which are not only sustainable; or preserving the culture through the vivid colourful Coffee Table book.”
Shri Bhaskar Khulbe, Advisor to the Hon’ble Prime Minister complimented the TRIFED team for their new premises and said, “I am happy that a slew of initiatives, all benefitting the tribal population are being launched today.”
The new TRIFED Office premises at NSIC Complex, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-III, New Delhi is around 30,000 sq ft in area and has state-of-the-art infrastructure and is equipped with two conference rooms for video conferencing and other latest amenities. It houses office space for the Hon’ble Minister for Tribal Affairs, Managing Director, senior officials and all staff.
The most notable initiative that was unveiled today was “Sankalp Se Siddhi – Mission Van Dhan”. TRIFED has been implementing several noteworthy programmes for the empowerment of the tribals. Over the past two years, The ‘Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support Price (MSP) & Development of Value Chain for MFP’ has impacted the tribal ecosystem in a major way. It has injected Rs 3000 crores into the tribal economy, even during such difficult times, aided by government push. The Van Dhan tribal start-ups, a component of the same scheme, has emerged as a source of employment generation for tribal gatherers and forest dwellers and the home-bound tribal artisans. In less than two years, 37,362 Van Dhan Vikas Kendras (VDVKs), subsumed into 2240 Van Dhan Vikas Kendra Clusters (VDVKCs) of 300 forest dwellers each, have been sanctioned by TRIFED out of which 1200 VDVK Clusters are operational. Under Retail Marketing, a total number of 134 Tribes India Outlets have been opened till date, which have made a total sale of Rs.53.66 Cr. Besides, two TRIFOOD Projects at Jagdalpur and Raigarh (Maharashtra) are being shortly commissioned for undertaking value-addition of various forest products being procured by beneficiaries of Van Dhan Kendras. As a result of above, an estimated amount of Rs. 3800 Cr. has so far been injected in tribal economy and has impacted lives of 50 Lakhs Tribal Population. TRIFED now plans to expand its operations through convergence of various schemes of different Ministries and Departments and launch the various tribal development programs in Mission Mode under “Sankalp Se Siddhi – Mission Van Dhan” for expediting its implementation in a Mission mode. Through this mission, establishment of 50,000 Van Dhan Vikas Kendras, 3000 Haat Bazaars, 600 Godowns, 200 Mini TRIFOOD Units, 100 Common Facility Centres, 100 TRIFOOD parks, 100 SFURTI clusters, 200 Tribes India retail stores, ecommerce platforms for TRIFOOD and Tribes India brands is being targeted.
The other initiatives launched today include the Van Dhan Software Application. Designed to receive and process the Van Dhan proposals online, the software application has GIS integration, can monitor Van Dhan Project implementation activities and can generate related reports. A Digital Connect programme under which a two way communication process is proposed to be established was also launched today.
Shri Munda also inaugurated 7 more Tribes India outlets, 2 in Jagdalpur, 3 in Ranchi, 1 in Jamshedpur and 1 at Sarnath. Showcasing tribal products from all over the country, the outlets will have specific GI and Vandhan corners and will display the large variety of GI tagged and natural products from different parts of the country. The Sarnath outlet is the first successful collaboration with the Ministry of Culture at an ASI heritage site. With these outlets, the total number of Tribes India outlets have gone up to 141.
A Tribes India Coffee Table Book which showcases the rich cultural tribal heritage and highlights the journey of various tribal artisans practicing different arts and crafts and how TRIFED has impacted their livelihoods, was also unveiled today. With the mission to make Tribes India the ultimate gifting destination, TRIFED has compiled a hamper of Unique handicrafts, GI products and immunity boosters from different parts of the country. These hampers, unveiled today, will make for unique gifts both here and abroad. TRIFED has also been providing Skill upgradation & Design Development Workshops for the development of Tribal Artisans through Handicraft and Income Generation Training Programs. During the pandemic, efforts were made for skill development of the tribal artisans and 17 training Programs were approved for benefitting 340 tribal artisans and developing 170 new designed products. Twenty five newly designed products from the recently completed Design workshop training programs for the Boksa tribal artisans at Rishikesh and Meena tribal artisans at Jaipur, were also launched.
Shri Pravir Krishna, Managing Director, TRIFED said speaking on the occasion, “TRIFED is working consistently on its mission towards making the tribals atmanirbhar and self-reliant. These are just a glimpse of the activities it has undertaken in this regard. The team is striving in this direction and will continue to do so.”
With the emphasis of the PM on Vocal for local and building a self-reliant India, TRIFED, as the nodal agency working towards tribal empowerment, continues to launch and start new initiatives that helps in improving the income and livelihood of the tribal people, while preserving their way of life and traditions.