Empanelment Process

TRIFED has set in place a well-defined system of sourcing products through its empanelled tribal suppliers, which comprises individual tribal artisans, tribal SHGs/FPOs, Govt Organizations/Agencies working for tribals, NGOs working with tribals and where tribals are engaged as partners in profit sharing, VDVKs formed under PMJVM scheme etc. Wherever the supplier is a group of individuals and or an Organization, atleast seventy percent (70%) of the persons comprising the group /Organisation shall be tribals and subject to the condition that key positions in the Supplier organization, like President, General Secretary, etc, will be manned by persons from ST community. This is as per the Operational Guidelines of Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Vikas Mission(PMJVM) issued by Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India vide date 27th March, 2023 for empanelment of suppliers (attached here).

TRIFED has tapped into several channels so that tribal artisans, in need of empowerment, can be identified. 
 
Some of these are detailed below:
 
a) Networking with State Level Organisation/Agencies working with tribals:

TRIFED has made institutional arrangements with various Central/State Level Organisations/Agencies for sourcing of various tribal products. The networking with Govt. Departments/Agencies engaged in Capacity building of tribal groups of Handicrafts is a regular process and the same being further expanded so that access to tribal areas is increased for bringing more and more tribal artisans under the ambit of TRIFED operations. Emphasis is laid on convergence with like-minded Agencies, seeking alliances and forging partnerships for optimization of resources.
 
b) Organizing Tribal artisan Mela (TAM)- 

TRIFED has initiated a concept of organizing Tribal Artisan Mela (TAM) at District/Tehsil/Block level as an exercise to reach tribal artisans located in interior tribal areas and source tribal art and craft directly from the tribal artisans/group of artisans. Under this initiative, TRIFED in association with State Govt./ Organisations invites Tribal Artisans to an exhibition area where they display their art and craft items. TRIFED deputes its merchandising team to these Melas to identify the new artisans and new products which can be marketed through its

outlets. This initiative not only helps in sourcing tribal art and craft in its original form but also helps in spreading the word about all of TRIFED’s activities. Tribals are also informed as to how they can avail the benefits of these activities. 
 
c) Craft demonstration:

The tribal artisans are invited in various exhibitions for demonstrating their crafts and talents to develop awareness and interest among the potential customers about the same. 
 

This process ensures that gifted tribal artisans, either working independently or in an non-government organization are engaged to supply quality handmade/ cultivated and handpicked products to TRIFED. 

This process ensures that gifted tribal artisans, either working independently or in an non-government organization are engaged to supply quality handmade/ cultivated and handpicked products to TRIFED.

TRIFED enables the tribal artisans even from the innermost regions to participate in the process of their socio-economic development through formulation of decent earning mechanism that is sustainable throughout. The sellers with no middlemen involved can directly sell their products to TRIFED wherefrom they are marketed through its several retail outlets and e-commerce platforms to reach the genuine buyers out there.

Selection and Purchase of Products

In addition to a well-defined and established set of guidelines for empanelment of suppliers, there are set systems for the selection and purchase of products by TRIFED. Once a supplier gets empanelled with any of Regional Offices of TRIFED, the supplier is requested to supply their product samples along with their offer price. The samples along with the offered price are placed before by the competent TRIFED authorities (in this case, the RO Level Product Selection and Pricing Committee) The Committee decides to

• Include the product in supply line and fix price

• In case the samples are not found marketable and as per required standard, The products are identified and segregated for training.

• Send the samples for test marketing in designated shops for a fixed time period.

While fixing purchase price of products, TRIFED ensures that the artisans are paid the right price for their product in line with the market. Moreover, the prices are reviewed from time to time in line with increase in input costs and appropriate corrections are made to ensure that the tribal artisan gets a remunerative price.

Once the items have been selected for including in supply chain, The products are given code numbers and photograph are clicked for circulation to Regional Offices for placing orders. The Sourcing team of the Regional Offices of TRIFED then begin the process placing order for purchase.

A) Purchase of Handloom and Handicraft products

As per the requirement of items identified by various ROs/Outlets, the Sourcing Regional Office of TRIFED raises an indent on the concerned RO, which places consolidated purchase order on their tribal artisans/suppliers for supplying the items as per the specified time schedule. The requirement of items is assessed by an RO in consultation with other ROs. A consolidated order is placed on the supplier with staggered supply schedule. On receipt of the stocks by the Sourcing RO of TRIFED, the same are dispatched for supply to the Regional Offices of TRIFED for sale through Outlets and Exhibitions under its jurisdiction.

B) Purchase of Tribal Painting

Painting is a piece of art which has no expiry date and therefore paintings need to be purchased with a long term perspective say three to five years. The only precaution one has to take is to keep it properly to avoid deterioration in quality due to handling. Tribal Paintings can not be made to order and therefore the normal system of sourcing based on indents is not feasible to be implemented

on procurement of paintings. It is mainly because irrespective of the quantity for which order has been placed the tribal artisan would take his normal time to make a painting. In order to tackle peculiarities of sourcing paintings separate guidelines were issued.

Since its inception, TRIFED has been inviting capable tribal artisans from different regions of the country only to promise them a trustworthy opportunity to earn their livelihood and experience better standard of living. Individual artisans interested in empanelling with TRIFED may please use this form to register here.

You can also view the list of empanelled suppliers here. The consolidated list with the total number of empanelled suppliers can be viewed here.

You can view the Aadi Vyapar Book for detailed information about the Empanelment process and forms.