Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday during a conference call spoke to State Forest Minister Mahesh Gagda as part of his plan to interact with party MlAs and MPs across the country.
The Prime Minister queried Gagda on several developmental parameters in Bijapur where the former is to visit on April 14 to inaugurate a Special Health Centre (SHC) under Ayushman Bharat Scheme of the Central Government at Jangla.
Modi asked Gagda who is a sitting BJP MlA from Bijapur Assembly constituency on attendance of school teachers in school, sex ratio and whether children attend schools in Bijapur district.
He said that development does not mean limiting to only construction of roads and bridges.
The Prime Minister also inquired about various ongoing developmental projects in Bijapur district.
Simultaneously talking to all the BJP MlAs and MPs of the State on the conference call, Modi appealed to them to observe fast on April 12 in order to protest the disruption of parliament and stalling of discussion on development agenda by the Opposition.
Modi also also took information about implementation of centrally sponsored schemes like Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, Ujjawala Yojana and various welfare schemes for the farmers.
Incidentally, Ministry of Tribal affairs has also approved establishment of the first multipurpose “Van Dhan Vikas Kendra” on pilot basis for establishment in Bijapur district for providing skill upgradation and capacity building training and setting up of primary processing and value addition facility, the Central Government has informed.
This first model Van Dhan Vikas Kendra is being implemented for training of 300 beneficiaries with a total outlay of Rs 43.38 lakhs for training, providing equipments and tools for primary level processing and infrastructure & building for housing the Kendra.
This Kendra to start with will have processing facility for Tamarind brick making, Mahua flower storage facility and chironjee cleaning and packaging.
TRIFED has assigned the work for establishment of this pilot Vikas Kendra in Bijapur district to CGMFP Federation and Collector, Bijapur would be the coordinating force.
The selection of the tribal beneficiaries and formation of the SHGs has been undertaken by TRIFED . To start with Van Dhan Vikas Kendra is being established in a Panchayat Building so that the primary processing can be commenced by the SHGs. The Kendra will be shifted to its own building once the same is ready.
The Van Dhan Vikas Kendras will be an important milestone in economic development of tribals involved in collection of MFPs by helping them in optimum utilization of natural resources and provide sustainable MFP-based livelihood in MFP-rich districts.
Minor Forest Produce (MFP) is a major source of livelihood for tribals living in forest areas. The importance of MFPs for this section of the society can be gauged from the fact that around 100 million forest dwellers depend on MFPs for food, shelter, medicines and cash income.
It provides them critical subsistence during the lean seasons, particularly for primitive tribal groups such as hunter gatherers, and the landless. Tribals derive 20-40% of their annual income from MFP on which they spend major portion of their time. This activity has strong linkage to women’s financial empowerment as most of the MFPs are collected and used/sold by women. MFP sector has the potential to create about 10 million workdays annually in the country.
Ministry of Tribal Affairs has taken a number of initiatives for socio economic development of tribals like introduction Forest rights Act, PESA Act and has been implementing schemes for development of MFP by providing financial support to State TDCCs and TRIFED for market development of MFPs. Recognising the critical importance which MFP hold for tribals and its potential to create large scale employment opportunity thereby, helping in reducing poverty and increasing empowerment of tribals particularly women and poor people of the poorest and backward districts of the country, Government of India has introduced an ambitious scheme of “Mechanism for marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support price (MSP) and development of Value chain for MFP”.
The scheme was started with the objective of providing fair price to MFP gatherers, enhance their income level and ensure sustainable harvesting of MFPs. The MSP scheme seeks to establish a framework to ensure fair prices for the produce collected by them, assurance of buying at a particular price, primary processing, storage, transportation etc while ensuring sustainability of the resource base. It is a holistic scheme for development of MFP trade and covers 24 MFPs.