New Delhi: Tribals in India will now be given a job of value-addition and marketing of minor forest produce. This will be done in order to get these products, better prices in the market.
Few Private companies will train the tribal youths in value-addition and in the marketing area. In the initial phase, six units will be set up. These units will be in Orissa, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
The private firms will set up these units under the public-private partnership. “We have already discussed the plan with firms like ITC, Ballarpur Industries, Dabur, Godrej and Emami. These companies have given their nod to the PPP project for value-addition and marketing of MFP’s and training of tribal youths.” said, Rural Development Minister, Shri. Jayram Ramesh. The units will be set up in the Naxalite-affected districts in the Centre’s Integrated Action Plan (IAP). Depending on the response, more of them will be opened in other areas, said the minister.
Ramesh said that the government would pay for setting up of the units. The ministry hopes to train about three lakh tribal youths by 2013. A government committee has found that tribals receive very poor rates for forest produce. As, value-adddition work is done far from the place where items are collected, this reduces the price of it. Also, lack of value-addition decreases the shelf life of the item that further lowers the chance of good bargain for the tribals. As about 100 million people in India collect and sell MFP for a living, therefore this initiative would prove very beneficial for the people.
