GUWAHATI, OCTOBER 1 (MExN): The Press Information Bureau (PIB), Guwahati organised a webinar on ‘Success Stories: Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana- driving Atmanirbhar Bharat for Tribal Communities in North East’ here today.
Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, Chief Minister of Sikkim, senior officials from Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED discussed about the potential and role of Van Dhan Vikas Kendras from entrepreneurial sector and policy perspective.
Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, Arjun Munda said that Central Government initiatives are bringing paradigm shift in entrepreneurship and help meet the aspiration of the youth in North East. He emphasised on the importance of market accessibility and said that products of the tribal areas are environment friendly. Union Minister said that creating demand in global market is important along with value added products quality.
Chief Minister of Sikkim, Prem Singh Tamang, appreciated the efficacy of the Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana and said that its advantages have a correlation to the socio-economic development of the region.
Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Deepak Khandekar said that the decision is a game-changer in the North East with Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana driving Atma-Nirbhar Bharat as ‘Engines of Growth’ for tribal communities in North East.
In a detailed discussion, MD, TRIFED Pravir Krishna said that ‘Van DhanYojana’ is a Market Linked Tribal Entrepreneurship Development Program for forming clusters of tribal SHGs and strengthening them into Tribal Van DhanKendras.
The Webinar was attended by several dignitaries including Suresh Gupta, Chief Secretary, Sikkim; N Darlong, Secretary, Tribal Welfare, Tripura; Anden Konyak, Secretary, DUDA, Nagaland and Kathi Chishi, Secretary, TOKA MPCS, Nagaland.
The dignitaries provided a perspective and the commonalities which emerged from the discussion include that North Eastern States are leading in implementation of Van Dhan Kendras. They said that the value-added products such hill brooms, wild honey, candles and ointments made of rock beeswax, bamboo bottles, aloe vera soaps, amlamurabba (gooseberries) are providing income and employment opportunities for tribal communities.
The two hours session had State Nodal Department/State Implementing Agencies of NE States for TRIFED. Abhijit Sharma, Director and Hemanta Rabha, Project Consultant, Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship, Guwahati; Gaithaolu Thaimei CF, Incharge Vandhan (Forest Dept), Manipur participated in the webinar and provided their inputs.
