Van Dhan Vikas Yojana
TRIFED spearheads implementation of the Van Dhan programme in 27 States and 307 Districts with availability of MFPs and significant forest dwelling tribal population. Collection and sale of MFPs contribute 40 – 60 % of tribal annual earnings and further “Value Addition” helps in tripling or quadrupling their income. 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’ was launched on 14th April, 2018. Implemented by TRIFED as the nodal agency at the national level, the Van Dhan start ups is a well thought master plan for the socio-economic development of the tribal population of the country. Its crucial steps are enumerated below -
- 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 Kendra Clusters (VDVKCs) in predominantly forested tribal districts.
- A VDVK Cluster shall constitute of 15 tribal SHGs / Van dhan Kendras, each comprising of up to 20 tribal NTFP gatherers or artisans i.e. about 300 beneficiaries per Cluster.
- 100% Central Government Funded with TRIFED providing Rs. 15 lakhs for each 300 member Van Dhan Kendra Cluster.
These steps are further divided into sub-steps which are as follows-
• Tribal Gatherer Contribution of Rs.1000 / member to instil ownership
• Panchayats/ District Administration to provide
operational premises to SHGs
• Well thought out Bankable Project Report comprising of-
- Annual MFP Gathering Plan,
- Types of Value Addition : Sorting and Grading, Processing
- Business Plan
• Procurement of Equipment (thru’ GeM/ tendering by SIA/DIU)
• Identification of Master Trainers
• Training in Value addition, Use of equipment, Enterprise Management
• Identification of local, district level, state level, national, global buyers for MFP Value Added Products
• Arrangement for Logistics & Transportations
• Branding & Marketing
A brief overview of the scheme and its implementation of the PMVDY (200 Days Report) till 8-April-2020 is as below-