What's the NEWS

• Shri Arjun Munda, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs launched the "Van Dhan Internship Programme" organised by TRIFED under Ministry of Tribal Affairs
• These interns will help the tribal population in becoming self reliant and entrepreneurs.

Know! more about Van Dhan programme

• 18 interns (to be called Minister's interns) from some of the reputed Institutes of Rural Management/ Management Institutions/ Institutes of Social Work/ Social Services of the country are participating in the "Van Dhan Internship Programme".
• These interns have been selected to go and work on Van Dhan programme in the field. These interns have an inclination towards involving in matters related to tribal livelihood.
• These interns are undergoing a one week training programme. The period of internship is 6 months (extendable developing upon the need of the organisation and mutual sustainability.
• These interns will work with the team of TRIFED in various states and districts in tribal areas in development of tribal welfare and inclusive growth (a dissertation has to be submitted on conclusion of the internship).
• They will support the TRIFED activities on livelihood promotion, value addition of NTFTs, marketing and credit linkages.
• They will develop tools and techniques on institutional development including mechanism for determination of a just price or producer price of Minor Forest Products.

Know! about Van Dhan Scheme

• The Van Dhan Scheme is an initiative of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED. It was launched on 14th April, 2018 and seeks to improve tribal incomes through value addition of tribal products.
• The scheme will be implemented through Ministry of Tribal Affairs as Nodal Department at the Central Level and TRIFED as Nodal Agency at the National Level.
• At State level, the State Nodal Agency for MFPs and the District collectors are envisaged to play a pivot role in scheme implementation at grassroot level.
• Locally the Kendras are proposed to be managed by a Managing Committee (an SHG) consisting of representatives of Van Dhan SHGs in the cluster.

Know! the working of Van Dhan Scheme

• At unit level, aggregation of produce would be done by SHGs having about 30 members each forming Van Dhan Vikas ‘Samuh'.

Minor Forest Produce (MFP)

• 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
• The SHGs would also undertake primary value addition of the MFPs using equipment such as small cutting and sieving tools, decorticator, dryer, packaging tool etc based on MFPs available in the area.

Van Dhan Vikas Kendra

• A cluster of ten such SHGs within the same village shall form a Van Dhan Vikas Kendra.
• Under Van Dhan, 10 Self Help Groups of 30 Tribal gatherers is constituted. The establishment of "Van Dhan Vikas Kendra" is for providing skill upgradation and capacity building training and setting up of primary processing and value addition facility.
• The stock after primary processing shall be supplied by these SHGs to the State Implementing Agencies or direct tie up for supply to corporate secondary processor.
• The Van Dhan Vikas Kendras will be 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.

Government Schemes
Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying
20^th Livestock Census

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about 20^th livestock census)
What's the NEWS

• Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has released the 20th Livestock Census
• The Census will prove beneficial not just for policy makers but also for agriculturists, traders, entrepreneurs, dairying industry and masses in general.

20^th Livestock Census (key highlights)

• The total Livestock population is 535.78 million in the country showing an increase of 4.6% over Livestock Census-2012
• Total Bovine population (Cattle, Buffalo, Mithun and Yak) is 302.79 Million in 2019 which shows an increase of about 1% over the previous census.
• The total number of cattle in the country in 2019 is 192.49 million showing an increase of 0.8 % over previous Census.
• The Female Cattle (Cows population) is 145.12 million, increased by 18.0% over the previous census (2012).
• The total buffaloes in the country is 109.85 million showing an increase of about 1.0% over previous Census.

Know! more about Livestock Census

• The Livestock Census has been conducted in the country periodically since 1919-20.
• The Livestock Census covers all domesticated animals and its headcounts. So far 19 such censuses have been conducted in participation with State Governments and UT Administrations.
• The 20^th Livestock Census was conducted in participation with all States and Union Territories.
• The enumeration was done both in rural and urban areas. Various species of animals (Cattle, Buffalo, Mithun, Yak, Sheep, Goat, Pig, Horse, Pony, Mule, Donkey Camel, Dog, Rabbit and Elephant)/poultry birds (Fowl, Duck, Emu, Turkeys, Quail and other poultry birds) possessed by the households, household enterprises/non-household enterprises and institutions have been counted at their site.
• The 20^th livestock census is indeed a unique attempt as for the first time such a major initiative has been take to digitise household level data through online transmission from the field.
• National Informatics Centre (NIC) has developed a mobile Application software and was used for data collection as well as online transmission of data from the field to the NIC server.

Health and Family Welfare

‘Eat Right Jacket' and ‘Eat Right Jhola' on World Food Day 2019
Relevance IN - Prelims (about food safety mitra + eat right India + eat right jacket and Eat right jhola) + Mains (GS II Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

World Food Day 2019

• The theme for this day was ‘Healthy Diets for a Zero Hunger World'. To mark the occasion, Dr Harsh Vardhan also launched the ‘Food Safety Mitra (FSM)' scheme, along with the ‘Eat Right Jacket', and ‘Eat Right Jhola' to strengthen food safety administration and scale up the ‘Eat Right India' movement.
• The Eat Right India movement is a crucial trigger for the much needed social and behavioural change.
• This campaign along with the ‘Fit India' Movement' can achieve huge success if the right strategy is adopted and efforts are made to reach out to every section of the society.

Food Safety Mitra (FSM) scheme

• The ‘Food Safety Mitra (FSM)' scheme will support small and medium scale food businesses to comply with the food safety laws and facilitate licensing and registration, hygiene ratings and training.
• Apart from strengthening food safety, this scheme would also create new employment opportunities for youth, particularly with food and nutrition background.
• The FSMs would undergo training and certification by FSSAI to do their work and get paid by food businesses for their services

Eat Right Jacket

• The ‘Eat Right Jacket' launched will be used by the field staff. This jacket has a smart design to hold tech devices like tablets/smart phone, a QR code and RFID tag for identification and tracking. Apart from providing safety to field staff on duty, this would bring in efficiency, professionalism and transparency in food safety administration and bring in a sense of ownership & visibility of FSOs.

Eat Right Jhola

• The ‘Eat Right Jhola', a reusable cloth bag shall replace plastic bags for grocery shopping in various retail chains. Since on repeated use, bags are often contaminated with microorganisms and bacteria, proper and regular washing of cloth bags is essential to ensure safety and hygiene.
• These cloth bags are being provided on rental basis through a private textile rental service company.

Environment Conservation
Textiles Secretary Inaugurates IHGF-Delhi Fair
Relevance IN - Prelims (about the 48^th edition of the Indian Handicrafts and Gifts Fair (IHGF)
What's the NEWS

• IHGF Delhi Fair (Autumn) 2019 endeavours to focus on 'Refuse, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle' this year to encourage sustainable development and preservation of the environment
• Textiles Secretary, Ravi Capoor, inaugurated the 48th edition of the Indian Handicrafts and Gifts Fair (IHGF)

Know! more about IHGF

• Overseas buyers from 110 countries are in India to source home, lifestyle, fashion, furniture and textiles products from around 3200 Indian exhibitors who are participating in the Fair
• The Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) must explore the possibility of opening handicrafts parks in India and develop those parks as tourism and crafts centres.

Know! about EPCH

• EPCH is a nodal agency for promoting exports of handicrafts from the country to various destinations of the world and projecting India's image abroad as a reliable supplier of high quality handicrafts goods and services.
• EPCH has set up Handicrafts Carpet Sector Skill Council which has set up the initiative VRIKSH, the Indian Timber Legality Assessment and Verification Scheme, to establish the chain of custody and legality of the wood which has further been mapped with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
• VRIKSH ensures, encourages and supports sustainable development and encourages women entrepreneurs.
  
  

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