TRIFED, UNICEF to leverage 45,000 Van Dhan SHG to promote COVID vaccines among 50 lakh tribals

NEW DELHI, 15 July 2021 – Shri Arjun Munda, Hon’ble Minister of Tribal Affairs, today, virtually launched the “COVID Teeka Sang Surakshit Van, Dhan aur Uddyam” (Safe Forests, Wealth and Enterprises with COVID Vaccine) campaign to accelerate the pace of COVID vaccination among tribals, in India.

The campaign will leverage the 45,000 Van Dhan Vikas Kendras (VDVK) of the Tribal Co-operative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED), a national level cooperative body under the administrative control of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India.

The campaign is being launched in partnership with UNICEF and WHO. The goal is to connect over 50 lakh tribals emphasizing COVID-19 vaccination is free, available in the nearby centres and it not only protects people from hospitalization cost and death but also also helps to continue with livelihood activities. 

The campaign will highlight the three key Js:

• Jeevan (Life) – Every life and livelihood is precious, so vaccination is key to life and is free.
• Jeevika (Livelihood) – You can continue with your Van Dhan Vikas Kendra and livelihood activities without any fear of getting the disease if you are vaccinated. It also saves you from hospitalization and other opportunity costs.
• Jaagrookta (Awareness) – Simplification of the process of registration for vaccination, place, accessibility to different audiences and age groups, especially women and elderly population. Van Dhan Vikas Kendras collaborate and work with other stakeholders with service as a motto and with dedication and commitment that they have a key role to make Panchayats and villages coronavirus free.

Shri Munda launched the campaign through video conferencing link-up with field camps in Mandla in Madhya Pradesh and Bastar in Chhattisgarh. Hon’ble Minister of State for Steel, Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste, Hon’ble Ministers of State for Tribal Affairs – Shri Bishweswar Tudu and Smt. Renuka Singh too were present virtually during the launch. Other dignitaries present during the launch were Shri Pravir Krishna, Managing Director, TRIFED; WHO Representative Dr. Roderico Ofrin; UNICEF India Representative Dr. Yasmin Ali Haque; and Shri Anupam Trivedi, Executive Director, TRIFED. 

On the occasion, Shri Munda also launched the newly prepared Digital Directory under TRIFED’s Digital Connect Programme.  TRIFED started a Digital Connect programme under which a two way communication process is proposed to be established with all tribal Beneficiaries associated with Van Dhan Vikas Yojana and Retail operations of TRIFED. Beside these, a number of other stakeholders interested in TRIFED activities are also being included to expand awareness about the schemes and activities of TRIFED and motivate them to be a part of these livelihood generating initiatives for tribals. The directory with all this information is now ready and was launched by the Hon’ble Minister, thus signalling the commencement of the Digital Connect Programme.

Launching the campaign, Shri Munda said, “We have been able to overcome two challenging waves, gained experience and are determined to stop the third wave. We have a role to play in rebuilding a new society, free of COVID infection. The campaign hopes to make our Van Dhan Vikas Kendras and villages to be the first in respective states to be declared COVID free and free of all restrictions.”

Giving details about the vaccination progress in tribal areas, he said that majority of the tribal districts were performing well in terms of COVID vaccination coverage.

"However, there still is vaccine hesitancy among certain groups due to an infodemic against the coronavirus vaccine, and myths, rumours, misinformation and disinformation are adding to the infodemic. The ‘COVID Teeka Sang Surakshit Van, Dhan aur Uddyam’ campaign focusses on reassurance, pride and self-efficacy. It promotes ‘Livelihoods with Health’ in tribal areas, fast tracks the activities of VDVK, and accelerates the pace of COVID vaccination among tribals engaged in procurement, value addition and marketing of handlooms, handicrafts and forest produces,” Shri Munda added.

The campaign will leverage the strength and network of Self Help Groups and other common touch points – Common Service Centres, fertilizers outlet centres, Haats and Bazaars, VDVKs and milk collection points, and will use wall paintings with tribal motifs to promote vaccine uptake and COVID Appropriate Behaviour.

The campaign will use non-traditional partnerships and community reach for mobilization and collective action such as involvement of traditional leaders like tadvis/patels, faith-based healers and incentivize adoption of vaccines through local health structures and COVID warriors.

UNICEF India Representative, Dr Yasmin Haque said, “COVID-19 has exacerbated issues of access to sanitation, nutrition and health services in the tribal areas making the people more vulnerable. This campaign  is aligned with UNICEF’s equity approach to survival, growth and development of children. We are proud to be associated with this campaign, which focuses on vaccine equity and engages with communities that risk being left behind.”

Unlocking potential

In its endeavour to promote tribal development, Trifed’s ‘Van Dhan Yojana’ seeks to shift tribal economy from supply of raw materials to value-added processing of these materials

Mangli, 45, is a thoroughbred Muria-Gond woman. When the mahua season sets in, you can see her going early in the morning with other village women to the deep woods to gather from the forest floor, the yellow mahua flowers with a heady fragrance. She gathers them in a basket custom-designed for it. She can gather about ten kilos of the flower. The to and fro walk, with the head-load on the return walk, is around twelve kilometres. She brings the mahua home and sun-dries it. And then? She smiles back at you. She will sell it to an operative of a trader, locally called a 'kochiya'. She does not know his name but knows him by face. She does not know what 'fair price' connotes. She does not know what the buyer will do with her produce. She does not know what fair-trade practices mean. Years ago, as a little girl, she accompanied her mother to the forest. Now she has a son who is married. Her daughter-in-law accompanies her to the forest. This routine has gone on for ages perhaps. Has there been no change? Yes, there is change, she says, with characteristic simplicity; the forests have thinned out.

That sums up the sad saga of tribal commerce. Once upon a time, tribal dependence on cash was marginal. Now it has increased manifold. But the economics remain at the subsistence level. Why? Because we have got used to viewing the forest-tribes as raw material gatherers, and the tribal areas as raw material storehouses. Scheduled Tribes constitute over eight per cent of our population. Successive governments have done what they thought was necessary for the upliftment of the tribes. But they perhaps did not adequately get to the heart of the matter. The forest-tribes are custodians ('owners', under the new law) of non-timber forest-produces, whose annual market value is estimated to be a staggering two lakh crore rupees. But this huge business-potential is yet to be adequately appreciated. And the strengthening of this business is yet to be adequately understood as the best driver of tribal development.

It is for this reason that the idea of NTFP-centric tribal development for forest/tribal areas needs to be pushed. It took a lot of persuasion and over 200 meetings with concerned agencies and officials at the highest levels. The initiative was aptly named 'Van Dhan', the wealth of the forests. The Prime Minister appreciated the idea and it soon came under his direct patronage as 'Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Vikas Yojana'. Trifed was the natural choice as the nodal agency for implementation of this scheme.


It needs to be emphasised that commerce and industry involving the tribes is the best form of corporate social responsibility that India Inc. should get interested in. It offers profit with 'Punya'. The huge human resource of the forest tribes and their traditional knowledge bank of forest produces is an invaluable capital that our corporate captains have ignored for long. 'Van Dhan' is hands-on involvement in 'Sabka Vikas', inclusive development. What exactly is Trifed's role? It's to provide end-to-end solutions. Trifed has its footprint right from gathering/harvesting the forest produces that include tree-borne oilseeds, flowers, herbs, barks, leaves, honey and a host of natural spices, to their primary processing, product development, packaging, transportation and marketing. Trifed is a facilitator and can help develop linkages between the collectives of tribal NTFP gatherers on the one hand and corporates on the other. Like Mangli gathering mahua in Bastar, there are thousands of other forest-based women spread over 26 states in India who are the first-point source for over a hundred forest produces. Under the new PMVDY scheme, the emphasis is on improving value addition to the produces rather than a mere collection of the produces from the forests. Trifed aptly calls it 'Tech for the Tribes'. It is to promote the tribal 'gatherer' to become a gatherer-cum-processor. For such processing, 'Van Dhan Vikas Kendras' are being set up in strategic locations. 1205 such centres have already been sanctioned in 26 States and most of these have become functional. These involve over 3,60,000 gatherers. Some success stories have already started flowing in. The North Eastern States are doing exceptionally well, thanks to some dedicated leaders in Kohima and Dimapur. The Naga 'Van Dhan' entrepreneurs under the stewardship of Kathi Chand are making Nutra Beverages and 'Herbaceuticals' with tie-ups with the Indian Council for Scientific Research. One of their flagship products is the essential oil derived from Van Tulsi, that sells for Rs 22,000 a litre and is in great demand. The 'Senapati Van Dhan Kendra' under the leadership of Gaithaolu Thaimei is making value-added products from apples and gooseberries. SRIJAN led by Ved Arya is making processed products based on custard apples through the 'Van Dhan Kendra' in Jhadoli (Udaipur). Many more stories are emerging week after week. Trifed has been actively developing new product lines in technical collaboration with IITs and other reputed organisations. 14 such products covering energy-drinks, spices, beauty-care and drugs have already been developed. What we need is more involvement of the corporates in marketing and tertiary processing of the intermediate products made in the 'Van Dhan Vikas Kendras'. Trifed would like to remain a facilitator, to help the private sector develop sustainable facilities and systems. Apart from forest produces, Trifed also deals in the promotion of tribal handicrafts. It has 77 TribesIndia showrooms across India. It wants to promote many more through the franchise model. This opens up self-employment opportunities for hundreds of young entrepreneurs.

In a major initiative aimed at transforming over 5 crore tribal entrepreneurs, the government has launched "Tech for Tribal" project. The initiative has been launched by Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation (TRIFED) in association with IIT-Kanpur along with IIT-Roorkee, IIM Indore, Kalinga Institute of Social Science (KISS), and SRIJAN, Jaipur during the first phase of organising tribal entrepreneurship and skill development programme.
While talking to Millennium Post, TRIFED MD Pravir Krishna said, "The TRIFED received an overwhelming response from all leading higher education institutions in the country for strategising to infuse best in class training and capacity building for tribals to start their own business."

"The project has huge potential to make an impact over 3 lakh tribals. The TRIFED has drawn out a 5-year strategy for 10 times impact in tribal development," Krishna further said.

"We are working towards greater convergence of various schemes under key ministries of the government of India, leading national institutions, social sector and most of all industry leaders and work towards this singular goal of promoting tribal produce in a big way," said Krishna, who has been working tirelessly to hone up the marketing skills of tribals of the country. Tech for Tribals is an initiative of TRIFED, which is supported by Ministry of MSME and it aims at capacity building and imparting entrepreneurship skills to tribal forest produce gatherers enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana (PMVDY). The trainees will undergo an over six-week programme comprising 120 sessions.
On the occasion, IIT Kanpur Director Prof Abhay Karandikar said, "The programme offers students and innovators to solve livelihood problems through micro-entrepreneurship development. We will establish a framework for long-term institutional support in fostering tribal-centric micro-entrepreneurship. All our students, start-ups at our Incubation Centre and alumni will have the opportunity to get directly involved in mentoring tribal entrepreneurs and help them build sustainable businesses in the districts they operate."

The TRIFED expects revenue of over Rs 1,000 crores by 1,200 odd Van Dhan Vikas Kendras roll-out their value addition activities, efficiently supported by the best in class expertise available in the country.

http://www.millenniumpost.in/nation/trifed-starts-project-to-hone-up-tribals-biz-skills-406015

The scientist of CSIR explained the prospects of Flower cultivation as an alternative option to the members of the VDVK Clusters and answered their queries and taught them novel methods to cultivate it