TRIFED under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs committed to the welfare and growth of the tribal people. The organization continues to forge ahead in its endeavor to bring the tribal people towards mainstream development.
It will introduce Tribals to Newer Processing Technologies, Product Innovation, Mentorship, and Transformational Digital Systems.
Through synergistic collaboration among the concerned Ministries, District Administration, local Panchayat Raj Institutes (PRIs), Voluntary Organisations, other stakeholders, and the other the entire network of 2600 + academic and research institutions under Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) join hands with TRIFED for skilling tribals for income generation and enhancing and promoting livelihoods.
The tribal entrepreneurs under TRIFED's Van Dhan programme will now be able to access their expertise through the Van Dhan Vikas Kendras established under the Van Dhan Yojana.
With the partnership with IIT Delhi and Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, these tribal forest dwellers engaged in Minor Forest Produces will get exposure to newer processing technologies, product innovation, mentorship, transformational digital systems handholding. The MoU opens gates for the best of brains in the country to attend to the problems of sustainable tribal livelihoods.
Speaking about the significance of this agreement and the pivotal role in tribal development, Shri Pravir Krishna, Managing Director TRIFED, said: “TRIFED was actively working on convergences with various ministries for “Skill development for Tribal Livelihoods. It is important to ensure round the year income-earning opportunity for tribals by engaging them in a various economic activities ranging from agriculture, horticulture, floriculture, Medicinal & Aromatic plants etc, going beyond Minor Forest Produces. The synergies with Institutions of National Importance like IIT Delhi will be crucial in our Mission to serve the Tribal cause, as we can leverage the huge network of academic and research institutions across the country under Unnat Bharat Abhyan, the MHRD flagship programme.”
Shri V Ramgopal, Director, IIT, Delhi, said: “IIT is consciously working towards connecting with the Abhiyan, in multiple ways. For example, we have these immersion programmes. We are trying to put our faculty members and students in places where there are real problems, whether it is working in hospitals, working in villages, or in industry. That is how they can identify the problems and use the resources available on campus to develop solutions. Therefore, the partnership is an opportunity for the brilliant minds to be presented with the right set of real problems that they can help address.”
The IIT Delhi-TRIFED partnership will also benefit from the expertise and experience of Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA). A science Movement with Swadeshi spirit, which aims to create awareness about the significant development of science and technology in India through ages and its relevance in the present context and work towards achieving self-reliance of Bharat in all walks of life using Science and Technology. VIBHA will map and reach out to various stakeholders for convergence with the focus to strengthen Van Dhan Yojna (VDY), through its local chapters.
VIBHA will help gather and pass critical information on needs and possible intervention to TRIFED, UBA, and tribal communities. Tribal beneficiaries engaged in Van DhanYojana will also take advantage of Tech4Seva information ERP portal (CSIR-UBA-VIBHA). An initiative for Technology Outreach as an Enabler for Inclusive and Sustainable Developmental to mobilize technology providers' creative abilities to develop scientific, affordable, and sustainable solutions to various issues identified at the grassroots level.
Facilitation for transfer of already available technologies to Van Dhan beneficiaries, including low-cost processing technology for value-addition of MFPs like decorators and drying machines relating to the various Minor Forest Produce (MFPs) also be part of this association.
TRIFED is implementing the Van Dhan Yojana (VDY), a programme for value addition, branding, and marketing of MFPs by establishing Van Dhan Kendras of around 300 tribal members each across the country to facilitate the creation of sustainable livelihoods for the forest-based tribal gatherers. In a typical Van Dhan Kendra, the tribal beneficiaries expected to create an enterprise that would be involved in all related aspects from the collection of forest produce, tribal beneficiaries' training, value-addition and processing, and packaging.
The Van Dhan Vikas Kendras emerged as a source of employment generation for tribal gatherers and forest dwellers and the home-bound tribal artisans. So far, 1205 Tribal Enterprises spread across 18500 SHGs established to provide employment opportunities to 3.6 lakh tribal gatherers and 18000 Self-help groups in 22 States. To ensure that the momentum gained over the past few months does not fizzle out, during the current financial year, TRIFED plans to sanction more Van Dhan Kendras to reach 3000 VDVKs.
The Van Dhan Yojana, along with the MSP for the same scheme's MFP component, offers a comprehensive development package for tribals promoting employment and incomes and entrepreneurship. With the successful implementation of this partnership, which will benefit the tribal people and many more upcoming initiatives in the pipeline, TRIFED hopes to accelerate the complete transformation of tribal lives and livelihoods across the country by reinvigorating the flagging economic condition of the tribal population.
Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) is a flagship national programme of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, envisioning the transformational change in rural development processes by leveraging knowledge institutions to help build the architecture of an Inclusive India. The Unnat Bharat Abhiyan Cell at IIT, Delhi consists of an Advisory Committee, an Executive Committee, and a Core Working Group consisting of about 40 faculty members drawn from various departments and centers of the institute. The Centre for Rural Development Technology (CRDT), as well as the RuTAG group of IIT Delhi, are fully participating in the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan activities. It has also identified a few rural clusters for direct intervention and is in the process of networking with various participating institutions and voluntary organizations.
Centre for Rural Development and Technology at IIT Delhi is one of the renowned academic units established in 1979.
The Centre functions as an outreach center to address challenges faced by rural communities and to improve their quality of life. Over 20 eminent faculty members support the Centre, six post-doctoral researchers, and over 100 research scholars who are highly committed towards holistic rural development. Faculty members and research teams at CRDT work in various areas to improve living conditions and generate livelihood through a synergy of Science and Technology interventions and Traditional Knowledge. The Centre has to its credit more than 300 high impact publications, reports and articles, 25 patents, and 2 start-ups.
Under Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA), IIT Delhi has brought together a robust structural network with a large number of nodal institutions ( Academic and research institutions like IITs, NITs, DST, DBT, ICAR, ICMR, MGIRI CSIR laboratories, ISRO, DRDO and defense laboratories, and BARC, etc.), Community Organizations (NGOs, PRIs & ULBs and other community-based organizations), CSR conscious corporates. Presently, the UBA network has 44 Regional Coordinating Institutes (RCIs), which are the solution facilitators, with 13 Subject Expert Groups (SEGs) & Specific Experts Advisors and 2600+ Participating Institutes (PIs) to build capacities and connect to the solution seekers, i.e., the tribal communities.
Source: Press Release ID: 1641191 Date: July 25, 2020 PIB Delhi