2-Oct-2020: Shri Arjun Munda E-Launches Tribal Entrepreneurship Development Programme of M/o Tribal Affairs in Partnership with ASSOCHAM Under Its Centre for Excellence Initiative
Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), an apex industry body have embarked upon a new three-year initiative jointly for Tribal Entrepreneurship Development’. The program was kick-started today by the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Shri Arjun Munda through Video conference. ASSOCHAM has been designated as one of several Centres of Excellence which are partnering with Ministry of Tribal Affairs to carry out special projects related to socio-economic development of Tribals.
Shri Arjun Munda during his key note address called upon all the stakeholders, including the industry members, to join in the efforts of developing the potential of the tribal communities and building their capacities to enhance their contribution in socio-economic growth thus fulfilling the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat given by the Prime Minister. He said that a country can only become self – reliant when its people will be made self- reliant. Citing various initiatives of his Ministry, he emphasised how these programs would understand and enhance the untapped potential and skills of rural and tribal communities, and provide possible solutions for their livelihood. With this new initiative of ASSOCHAM, he hoped to position and develop tribal offerings in national and International market and in turn create better livelihood opportunities for tribal artisans.
Shri Deepak Khandekar, Secretary, Minister of Tribal Affairs while sharing his views on tribal entrepreneurship said that the tribal communities have a great knowledge and skills and the entrepreneurship development initiatives would make them realise about their inherent strength so that they can available vast opportunities available with them so that they can use their skills and establish commercial ventures.
Dr. Niranjan Hiranandani President, ASSOCHAM, said that more than 4.5 lakh SMEs are directly or indirectly currently associated with our organization. Through this Centre of Excellence, value addition, technology advance and marketing of tribal products would be facilitated to the tribal communities in a more effective and efficient manner. The ‘Tribal Entrepreneurship Development Programme’ would optimize the contribution of tribal population to the growing economy of our country and support India's vision of becoming Aatmanirbhar. He urged all members to come forward and collaborate with the Ministry to adopt a village near their factories in collaboration with Ministry.
DG, IIPA Sh. SN Tripathi stressed how the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat initiative is connected to the teachings of father of Nation who always emphasised the role of tribals and rural India in Nation building.
Mr. Deepak Sood, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM, said, “In a bid to promote and support entrepreneurship across Indian tribal communities, efforts are underway in connecting agriculture and forest produce with markets using technology, creation of self-help groups, empowering women, and creating self-sustainable enterprises. The ‘ASSOCHAM will strive to explore avenues of promotion to create a robust tribal brand identity and in the process - build and enhance the entrepreneurial capabilities of the tribal artisans.”
Dr Navaljit Kapoor, Joint Secretary, MoTA delivered a presentation and briefed about several projects undertaken by the Ministry in collaboration with States, TRIFED, and reputed Government and Non-Government Organizations spread over country and also discussed various models of entrepreneurship development undertaken with these partner organizations, designated as Centre of Excellences.
Ms. Meenakshi Sharma ASG, ASSOCHAM briefed about the project, where in 1000 tribal artisans would be identified under this initiative and would be helped to create a unique brand identity with a differentiated value proposition and connect with the potential customer base through exhibitions, Virtual road shows and explore participation of the entrepreneur’s in major events across the country and internationally.
To mark the ‘Launch of Tribal Entrepreneurship Development Programme’, ASSOCHAM also conducted a webinar titled, ‘Khadi: Symbol of independent Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ to commemorate the birth of Mahatma Gandhi and to celebrate upliftment, inclusion and empowerment of our underprivileged, marginalized and impoverished communities. The discussion focused on the urgency to promote and support entrepreneurship of the tribal communities in the country. Shri Vineet Agarwal, Sr. Vice President, ASSOCHAM, Dr. Atul Kochhar, CEO, National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH), Dr. Manish Pande, Director & Head, Project Analysis & Documentation (PAD) Division, Quality Council of India, Dr. Manu Gupta, Co- Founder Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (SEEDS) along with other senior industry players shared their views on the tribal development .
More than 300 participants across the country including Officers from State Government, TRI, various partner organisation working with Ministries and Mentors from GOAL program along with Officers of Ministry, IIPA and ASSOCHAM attended the event through video conference.
30-Sep-2020: Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot e-launches “Ambedkar Social Innovation & Incubation Mission under Venture Capital fund for SCs(ASIIM)”
Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot e-launched the “Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission (ASIIM) under Venture Capital Fund for SCs” through Video Conferencing here today with a view to promoting innovation and enterprise among SC students studying in higher educational institutions. Minister of State for SJ&E Shri Rattan Lal Kataria, Secretary, M/o SJ&E Shri R. Subrahmanyam; Secretary, M/o S&T Prof. Ashutosh Sharma; Joint Secretary, M/o SJ&E Shri R.P. Meena; Dy. MD, IFCI Limited Shri Sunil Kumar Bansal and MD, IFCI Venture Capital Funds Limited Shri Shivendra Tomar were also present.
Addressing on the occasion, Shri Gehlot said that the Ministry of Social Justice had launched the Venture Capital Fund for SCs (VCF-SC) in 2014-15 with a view to developing entrepreneurship amongst the SC/Divyaang youth and to enable them to become 'job-givers’. The Objective of this fund is to provide concessional finance to the entities of the SC entrepreneurs. Under this fund, 117 companies promoted by SC entrepreneurs have been sanctioned financial assistance to set up business ventures. Under named “Ambedkar Social Innovation Incubation Mission (ASIIM)”initiative, 1,000 SC youth would be identified in the next 4 years with start-up ideas through the Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) in various higher educational institutions. They will be funded @ Rs. 30 lakhs in 3 years as equity funding so that they can translate their start-up ideas into commercial ventures. Successful ventures would further qualify for venture funding of up to Rs. 5 Crore from the Venture Capital Fund for SCs.
He said that the Ministry has decided to launch ASIIM through the Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes (VCFSC). It’s objectives include: To promote entrepreneurship among the SC Youth with special preference to Divyaangs; To support (1,000) innovative ideas till 2024 through a synergetic work with the Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) set up by Department of Science and Technology; To support, promote, hand-hold the start-up ideas till they reach commercial stage by providing liberal equity support; and To incentivise students with innovative mind-set to take to entrepreneurship with confidence.
The Minister said that this initiative under VCF-SC will promote innovation in the SC youth and would help them to become job-givers from job-seekers; and would further give fillip to the ‘Stand Up India’ initiative of the Prime Minister PM Shri Narendra Modi.
Shri Rattan Lal Kataria in his address said that in order to promote innovation and entrepreneurship amongst SC students in the higher education campuses, there is a need to identify innovative ideas and provide focussed support to young entrepreneurs who are engaged in working on innovative and technology-oriented business ideas either in educational campuses or Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) to help them setup successful commercial enterprises. Such an action will not only allow the SC students to pursue with innovation and entrepreneurship, but will give a further boost to the Stand Up India programme of the Government.
The ASIIM initiative will be implemented by the Venture Capital Fund for SCs (VCF-SCs) which was set up in 2016 with the Fund size of Rs. 500 Cr. Since its inception, VCF-SC has sanctioned financial assistance to 118 companies to the tune of Rs. 444.14 crore. In order to further motivate and encourage Innovative entrepreneurial Startups, M/o SJ&E has modified the Venture Capital for Scheduled Castes (VCF-SC) guidelines to keep focused attention in providing equity support to entities/companies of young SC entrepreneurs working on innovative and technology-based ideas.
Under this initiative VCF-SC shall target SC students / young entrepreneurs working in Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) supported by Department of Science and Technology (DST) in higher education and technology institution including Business / Management schools. The VCF-SC shall extend all support in the form of hand-holding, guidance, mentoring, besides providing equity support up to Rs 30 lakh over a period of three (3) years to each entity of young SC students / entrepreneurs. The budget of ASIIM for the next four years has been kept at Rs 19320lakhs.
20-Aug-2020: Shri Arjun Munda Virtually Launches Trifood Project of Trifed in Raigad, Maharashtra and Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh
Union Tribal Affairs Minister Shri Arjun Munda e-launched the tertiary processing centres of “Trifood Project” of TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs in in Raigad, Maharashtra and Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh here today in the presence of Smt. Renuka Singh, Minister of State, Shri K.C. Padvi, Minister of Tribal Affairs, Maharashtra, Shri Ramesh Chand Meena, Chairman, TRIFED and Shri Pravir Krishna, Managing Director, TRIFED. Senior officials from the ministries and dignitaries from the two states also attended this virtual inauguration.
Being implemented by TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs in association with Ministry of Food Processing (MoFPI), TRIFOOD aims to enhance the income of tribals through better utilization of and value addition to the MFPs collected by the tribal forest gatherers. To achieve this, as a start, two Minor Forest Produce (MFP) processing units will be set up.
The unit in Raigad, Maharashtra that will be used for value addition to mahua, amla, custard apple and jamun and will produce mahua drink, amla juice, candy, jamun juice and custard apple pulp. The multi-commodity processing centre in Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh will be used for the processing of commodities like mahua, amla, honey, cashew, tamarind, ginger, garlic and other fruits and vegetables. These would be made into mahua drink, amla juice, candy, pure honey, ginger-garlic paste and fruit and vegetable pulp.
Congratulating all those involved with this project, Shri Arjun Munda lauded their efforts in reviving the flagging economic condition of the tribal food gatherers. Airing his views on holistic development, he touched upon the aspects of the biodiversity of tribal life and how these should be preserved and enhanced. He said that this project will help in promoting tribal entrepreneurship. He lauded TRIFED’s efforts in particular in this project, which not only ensures that this bio-diversity is maintained but also forges backward and forward linkages, while promoting the development of the tribals. TRIFED, as the nodal agency for the upliftment of the tribals, has been putting in place several initiatives to alleviate their distress in these unprecedented times. He encouraged the officials working on this ambitious initiative on ground so that this can be replicated across the country. He opined that DMs and DFOs can play a very important role in tribal development.
Speaking on the occasion, Smt Renuka Singh Saruta also appreciated the joint efforts and the vision behind which such a fruitful initiative could be possible in the two neighbouring states. She added that she is hopeful that this initiative will bring in much benefits to the tribal populations in the two states. She hoped that these project will be extended to other tribal states also.
Shri R.C. Meena dwelt upon many such useful schemes and programmes of TRIFED for the betterment of lives of tribals and hoped that this project will serve its purpose in these two states.
Earlier, Shri Pravir Krishna, MD, TRIFED thanked the teams of TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Ministry of Food Processing Industries and NSTFDC for their work on this initiative. He also spoke about how the TRIFOOD project in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra is an attempt to offer a comprehensive development package for tribals by promoting, employment, incomes and entrepreneurship.
The ‘Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support Price (MSP) & Development of Value Chain for MFP’ Scheme, in particular, has already emerged as a beacon of change in these unprecedented times and has positively impacted the tribal ecosystem as never before. Implemented by TRIFED in association with State Government Agencies across 21 states of the country, the scheme has injected more than Rs 3000 crores directly in the tribal economy so far. Aided by the Government push in May 2020 wherein the prices of Minor Forest Produce (MFPs) were increased by upto 90% and the inclusion of 23 new items in the MFP list, this flagship scheme of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, which draws its strength from The Forest Rights Act of 2005,aims to provide remunerative and fair prices to tribal gatherers of forest produces.
The Van Dhan Vikas Kendras/ tribal start-ups, also a component of the same scheme, further complements MSP beautifully as it has emerged as a source of employment generation for tribal gatherers and forest dwellers and the home-bound tribal artisans. 1205 Tribal Enterprises spread across 18500 SHGs have been established to provide employment opportunities to 3.6 lakh tribal gatherers and 18000 Self-help groups in 22 States. The crux of the programme is that it ensures that the proceeds from the sales of these value-added products go to the tribals directly.
The TRIFOOD project aims to converge both the components in its desired merits. In association with MoFPI, the units that will be set up under the Scheme for Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana, will procure the raw material from the Van Dhan Kendras in the state. The fully processed products will be sold across the country in Tribes India outlets, and franchisee stores. Moreover, TRIFED plans to identify and train tribal entrepreneurs who can also sell the products.
With systems and processes being put in place to make the procurement of MFPs and their processing and value addition a round-the-year process, TRIFED is working towards the successful implementation of the TRIFOOD project and other upcoming ones, so that tribal lives and livelihoods can be transformed and incomes secure.