The ongoing procurement of Minor Forest Produces (MFPs) at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) in 16 states has reached a record high of Rs 79.42 crore. 

With this, the total procurement for the year (both government and private trade) crossed Rs 2,000 crore, proving a much needed panacea for the tribals amid the pandemic.

Van Dhan Vikas Karyakram

Van Dhan Vikas Karyakram is primarily a component under the mechanism for marketing of minor forest produce (MFP) through minimum support price (MSP) and development of value chain.

PM Narendra Modi launched the Van Dhan scheme of ministry of tribal affairs and TRIFED on April 14, 2018 at Bijapur in Chhattisgarh. 

Under Van Dhan, 10 self help groups of 30 tribal gatherers are constituted. They are trained and provided with working capital to add value to the products, which they collect from the jungle. 

Working under the leadership of a collector, these groups can then market their products inside and outside their states. Training and technical support is provided by TRIFED. 

Van Dhan Vikas Karyakram is an initiative targeting livelihood generation for tribal population by harnessing the wealth of forest. 

The programme aims to tap into the traditional knowledge and skill sets of tribal people by adding technology and information technology for upgradation of output at each stage and to convert the tribal wisdom into a remunerative economic activity. 

What is TRIFED? 

The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) was established in 1987. It is a national-level apex organization functioning under the administrative control of the ministry of tribal affairs. TRIFED has its head office in New Delhi and 13 regional offices across the country.

Significance of MSP for MFP scheme

The unprecedented circumstances caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic gave rise to new challenges and resulted in a severe crisis among the tribal population.

Unemployment among youth and reverse migration of tribals threatened to throw the entire tribal economy off track. It is in such a scenario that the MSP for MFP presented an opportunity to all states. 

The successful implementation of the Van Dhan Yojana across the 22 states involving 3.6 lakh tribal beneficiaries acted as a catalyst for putting the MFP scheme on the right track.

In May, the ministry of tribal affairs recommended the addition of 23 new items under the MSP for MFP list. These items include agricultural and horticultural produce collected by tribal gatherers.

With the injection of over Rs 2,000 crore in the tribal economy, the MSP for MFP scheme can lead in transformation of the tribal ecosystem and empowering the tribals.

Chhattisgarh tops in procurement

Among the states, Chhattisgarh has taken the lead by procuring 20,270 metric tonnes of MFP worth Rs 52.80 crores. Odisha and Gujarat follow with a procurement of 9,908 MTs of MFPs worth Rs 21.32 crores and 155 MTs of MFPs worth Rs 1.61 crores respectively. Chhattisgarh, in particular, has emerged as a champion state for its commendable efforts. With the state government putting all its might behind the implementation of the MSP for MFP scheme, the systems and processes for procurement is well in place across all districts. 

Chhattisgarh has 866 procurement centres and the state has leveraged its vast network of Van Dhan SHGs from the 139 Van Dhan Kendras effectively as well. Innovations adopted such as door-to-door collection of MFPs by mobile units comprising forest, revenue and VDVK officials have contributed to these high figures.

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