The Government has taken several steps to strengthen the supply chain and market linkages of tribal cooperatives, said Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar in a written reply to question in Lok Sabha.
The Ministry provides grant-in-aid to TRIFED to fulfil objectives under the Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Vikas Mission (PMJVM) scheme. As a part of this effort, an amount of Rs. 319.65 crores has been released to the State Governments as revolving funds for procurement of notified Minor Forest Produce (MFPs), Rs. 89.16 crores have been released for strengthening infrastructure like Haat Bazaars, storage godowns etc. and Rs. 587.36 crores have been sanctioned for setting up of Van Dhan Vikas Kendras (VDVKs) over the years, reads the reply.
In addition, a part of the grant-in-aid has been utilized by TRIFED for procurement of tribal products for their marketing through online and offline platforms.
Due to these efforts, the State Governments have so far procured MFPs worth Rs. 622.18 crores using the revolving funds provided by the Ministry along with their own contributions.
3958 VDVKs have been set up which have realized a sale of Rs. 41.02 crores and TRIFED has made a procurement of tribal products worth Rs. 123.02 crores and recorded a sale of Rs. 172.55 crores since 2019-20.
It bears recalling that the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) is a Multi-State Cooperative Society under the aegis of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, with primary objectives to promote marketing of tribal produce / products through strengthening supply chain and providing market linkages for their procurement and sale.