About the Scheme

1. “INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING OF TRIBAL PRODUCTS/PRODUCE”

Under the scheme, Grants-in-aid are released to State Tribal Development Cooperative Corporations (STDCCs) and Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Ltd. (TRIFED) which is a multi-State Cooperative under MoTA.

Scope :

To give comprehensive support for people belonging to various tribes in the entire range of production, product development, preservation of traditional heritage, support to both forest and agricultural produce of tribal people, support to Institutions to carry the above activities, provisions of better infrastructure, development of designs, dissemination of information about price and the agencies which are buying the products, support to Government agencies for sustainable marketing and thereby ensure a reasonable price regime.

Objective of the Scheme:

To create institutions for the Scheduled Tribes to support marketing and development of activities they depend on for their livelihood. These are sought to be achieved by specific measures like (i) market intervention; (ii) training and skill up-gradation of tribal Artisans, Craftsmen, MFP gatherers etc.; (iii) R&D/IPR activity; and (iv) Supply chain infrastructure development.

Marketing Of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) Through Minimum Support Price (MSP) And Development Of Value Chain For MFP”

Introduced by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs in the year 2013-14, to provide much needed safety net and support to people belonging to Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers whose very livelihood depends on collection and selling of MFP.

Scope :

The scheme seeks to establish a system to ensure fair monetary returns for their efforts in collection, primary processing, storage, packaging, transportation etc. It also seeks to get them a share of revenue from the sales proceeds with cost deducted. It also aims to address other issues for sustainability of process. The scheme envisages fixation and declaration of Minimum Support Price for the selected MFP. Procurement & Marketing operation at prefixed MSP will be undertaken by the designated State Agencies. Simultaneously, other medium- &long-term issues like sustainable collection, value addition, infrastructure development, knowledge base expansion of MFP, market intelligence development, strengthening the bargaining power of Gram Sabha/ Panchayat will also be addressed.

Objective:

To ensure fair returns to Minor Forest Produce (MFP) gatherers mainly through Minimum Support Price (MSP) for identified MFP collected by them along with necessary infrastructure at local level.

2.1 “VAN DHAN VIKAS KARYAKRAM (VDVK)” (an initiative under the Scheme “Mechanism for Marketing of MFPs through MSP and Development of Value Chain for MFP”)

Dhan Vikas Karyakram (VDVK) is an initiative under the Scheme ‘Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support Price (MSP) and Development of Value Chain for MFP’targeting livelihood generation for tribals by harnessing the wealth of forest i.e. Van Dhan. The programme aims to tap into traditional knowledge and skill sets of tribals by adding technology & IT to upgrade it at each stage and to convert the tribal wisdom into a viable economic activity.

Under this Karyakram, it is proposed to set-up tribal community owned Minor Forest Produce centric multi-purpose Kendras in predominantly tribal districts. The Kendras would act as common facility centres for procurement cum value addition to locally available Minor Forest Produce. Value addition of raw produce is expected to increase the value of the MFP considerably and consequently the income of the gatherers.

Silent features of VDVK:

• Initiative targeting livelihood generation for tribal gatherers and transforming them into entrepreneurs.
• Idea is to set-up tribal community owned Van Dhan Vikas Kendras (VDVKs) in predominantly forested tribal districts.
• A Kendra shall constitute of 15 tribal SHGs, each comprising of up to 20 tribal NTFP gatherers or artisans i.e. about 300 beneficiaries per Van Dhan Kendra.
• The cost of setting up of Kendras VDVK are to be borne 100% by MoTA for which funds will be made available through TRIFED.

3. “Equity Support To National/State Scheduled Tribes Finance And Development Corporation (NSTFDC/STFDCs)

NATIONAL SCHEDULED TRIBES FINANCE AND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (NSTFDC) NSTFDC a fully owned Public Sector Enterprise of Government of India, is provided with 100% equity share capital contribution by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. The authorized share capital of the Corporation is Rs 750.00 crore. The main objectives of NSTFDC are:-

• To identify economic activities of importance to the Scheduled Tribes so as to generate self-employment and raise their income level.
• To upgrade their skills and processes through both institutional and on the job training.
• To make existing State/ UT Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporations (SCAs) and other developmental agencies engaged in economic development of the Scheduled Tribes more effective.
• To assist SCAs in project formulation, implementation of NSTFDC assisted schemes and in imparting training to their personnel.
• To monitor implementation of NSFDC assisted schemes in order to assess their impact.

NSTFDC implements following schemes for self-employment of Scheduled Tribes:

• Term Loan scheme: NSTFDC provides Term Loan for any viable income generation scheme costing upto ₹25.00 lakhs per unit.
• Adivasi Mahila Sashaktikaran Yojana (AMSY): Under the scheme, Scheduled Tribes women can undertake any viable income generation activity costing upto ₹ 1 lakh per unit.
• Micro Credit Scheme for Self Help Groups: The Corporation provides loan ₹5 Lakhs per Self Help Group (SHG) and upto ₹50,000/- per member.
• Adivasi Shiksha Rrinn Yojana (Education Loan): Under this scheme, financial assistance upto ₹10.00 lakh at concessional rate of interest of 6% per annum is provided to ST students for pursuing professional/ technical education including Ph.D. in India

STATE SCHEDULED TRIBES FINANCE AND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (SSTFDC)

The STFDCs are catering to STs in various States and are provided assistance in the form of contribution towards share capital by this Ministry. The ratio of its contribution is in the share of 51:49 between State and Government and Central Government. The main objectives of the scheme are :-

• Identification of eligible ST families and motivating them to undertake economic development schemes.
• Sponsoring those schemes to financial institutions for credit support.
• Providing financial assistance in form of margin money on low rate of interest
• Providing necessary linkage/ tie-up with other poverty alleviation programmes.