TRIFED under Ministry of Tribal Affairs has embarked on an ‘all-encompassing digitisation drive’ to only promote tribal commerce at a time when all aspects of life have moved online. The drive also maps and links its village-based tribal producers and artisans to national and international markets by setting up state of art e- platforms benchmarked to international standards. The strategy is aimed to effectively promote tribal commerce.
TRIFED is in the process of digitising all the information related to the forest dwellers associated with the Van Dhan Yojana, village haats and their warehouses. This digitization effort wherein all tribal clusters are identified and mapped using GIS technology will help bring benefits to these people under the ‘Atmanirbhar Abhiyan’ clarion call given by the Prime Minister.
Adapting ‘Go Vocal for Local’, a mantra in these troubled times, into ‘Go Vocal for Local Go Tribal – Mera Van Mera Dhan Mera Udyam’, TRIFED has put in place several path-breaking initiatives, in addition to its existing flagship programmes and implementations, that have emerged as a panacea for the distressed tribals in such times. TRIFED’s noteworthy efforts in the recent months have aided the tribal people in employment and livelihood generation in these difficult times.
Due to the suddenness of the pandemic overtaking our lives and the immediate lockdown, stocks by tribal artisans worth Rs 100 crores were lying unsold. In order to ensure that these stocks got sold and all the sales proceeds go to the affected tribal families, TRIFED purchased more than 1 lakh items and launched an aggressive plan to market these unsold goods online (offering substantial discounts) through its Tribes India website and also other retail platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart and GeM.
It has now been four months since the pandemic has caused (and continues to cause) havoc in the lives of people, across the country. As people try to pick up their lives and livelihoods, the team of TRIFED warriors is continuing to forge ahead in its endeavour to bring the tribal people towards mainstream development.