ITANAGAR, Mar 19: Department of Rural Development today inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (TRIFED) that would pave the way for creation of a mechanism for marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through a Minimum Support Price (MSP) system and under which the cluster-wise Van Dhan Vikas Kendras (VDVKs) would come into existence, with active participation by the state’s SHGs.

The Department of Rural Development was represented by its Director and TRIFED by its Regional Manager (Northeast Region). The state government has designated the RD Department as the nodal agency and Arunachal State Rural Livelihoods Mission (ArSRLM) as the designated nodal agency for the scheme which will be implemented through the Self Help Groups under DAY-NRLM and their collectives e.g. Producer Groups, Farmer Producer Organisations and federations. These institutions will operate the proposed Van Dhan Vikas Kendras (VDVKs) in their respective clusters which will actually play the role of start-up level centres for procurement, value addition and marketing of the MFP. ArSRLM will be actively engaged in training the SHGs and their associated institutions on proper harvesting, conservation, regeneration, value addition and marketing of MFP. It will also develop the Standardised Operating Procedures (SOPs) for ensuring that the VDVKs transfer the surplus accrued from its operations to the tribal producers, which will include the indigenous tribal producers and not necessarily restricted only to the DAY-NRLM SHG members. 

Regional Manager, TRIFED A.D. Mishra while appreciating the response of the RD Department expressed confidence that ArSRLM would meet the targets set for Arunachal Pradesh under the VDVK model and assured all assistance from TRIFED’s behalf. Citing Manipur’s success story he informed the state is producing world class products by adopting the model and has been able to conduct business of around Rs.1.90 crores in the last 9 months. The RD Director while appreciating TRIFED and ArSRLM for the partnership informed that GoAP is keen to patronise the state’s rural communities and make them self-reliant. 

Chief Operating Officer, ArSRLM Dr. Rakesh Srivastava gave a brief outline of the scheme and appraised the role of DAY-NRLM in its implementation. The VDVKs will operate on a business plan (revenue) model, he informed. ArSRLM will script the SOPs for functioning of the VDVKs in consultation with subject experts from National Mission Management Unit of DAY-NRLM, Union Ministry of Rural Development and would also incorporate suggestions and inputs from TRIFED.

Joint Director, Rural Engineering and other officials from the Department of RD and ArSRLM were among others present during the MoU signing.