Workshop on Van Dhan and Entrepreneurship Development

Workshop on Van Dhan and Entrepreneurship Development

• Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Shri Arjun Munda inaugurated the “Workshop on Van Dhan and Entrepreneurship Development” organized by TRIFED under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
• Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana (PMVDY) is an initiative targeting livelihoods generation for tribals by harnessing the wealth of the forest i.e., Van Dhan. The program 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 Van Dhan Kendras (VDVKs). The objective of PMVDY is to create tribal enterprise comprising of tribal gatherers/ entrepreneurs, who would collectively undertake all related activities starting from the collection of NTFPs through sustainable harvesting, value-addition, packaging, branding, and marketing of value-added products. He informed the Members that PMVDY envisages the creation of tribal enterprises for employment and entrepreneurship development of 45 Lakh tribals, involving 1 Lakh SHGs/5000 VDVKs covering 27 States and 307 districts during the next 3 years.
• The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Govt of India through TRIFED started the above initiative in Aug. 2019. TRIFED has so far sanctioned proposals for the establishment of 1101 Van Dhan Kendras in 26 States and 1 UT. The scheme is being implemented through State Nodal Departments and State/District Implementing Agencies. Reputed Institutions like IITs, IIMs and National Level Intuitions have been associated with supporting this initiative by taking their help in devising the training module and imparting training to members of Van Dhan Kendras on various aspects including the processing of forest products, branding, packaging, and marketing of value-added products. These reputed institutions will continue their support post-training to the members for developing a Van Dhan enterprise. Besides, Organisations like FICCI, CII, ASSOCHAM, PHD chamber, DICCI, etc. are also being associated with bringing support and participation of trade and industry in this Van Dhan program.  TRIFED has reached out to various Ministries like Commerce, MSME, RD, Railways, etc also for support to promote tribal products through a multi-pronged strategy.
• The process of establishment of Van Dhan Kendras has gained momentum in the States. Out of sanctioned 1101 Van Dhan Kendras, 406 Van Dhan Kendras have identified tribal beneficiaries, 174 have done the training of SHGs/VDVKs and 41 Kendras have initiated the process of value-addition and processing operations.

Source: The Hindu