Government asks states to speed up procurement of MFP to support Tribals in COVID-19 situation

The government on Sunday asked states to speed up procurement of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) to support Tribals in the backdrop of the situation created by Covid-19. The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs has said that the States have initiated the process of procurement of Minor Forest Produce and operations have begun in ten States.

Procurement of over Rs 20.30 crore has already been undertaken in the current financial year (FY21) till date. The Ministry said the entire procurement operation for MFP will get a further push after the announcement of revised Minimum Support Price (MSP) for 49 items of forest produce in view of Covid 19.

The increase across various items of minor forest produce ranges from 16 per cent to 66 per cent.

An online monitoring dashboard named Van Dhan Monit Dashboard has been created for reporting activities undertaken at the State level for procurement of Minor Forest Produce. The dashboard is a part of the "TRIFED E- Sampark Setu" that is being created for an exchange of information to and from every Panchayat and Van Dhan Kendra, either through Mail or Mobile. TRIFED proposes to link up with 10 lakh villages, district and state-level partners, agencies and SHGs.

States have appointed the Van Dhan Kendras as their primary procurement agents for MFP procurements from Haat bazaars. The Van Dhan Kendras have procured around 31.35 MTs of MFPs with a value of Rs. 1.11 Crore. Under the Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan program, 1126 VDVKs have been sanctioned in 21 States and 1 UT involving 3.6 lakh tribal beneficiaries putting them on the path to the enterprise.

The scheme of Van Dhan Kendras is operational in 22 States with a significant tribal population in the country and has the potential to benefit almost 1.1 crore, tribal families, in the country.