Launch of Tech For Tribals in Odisha on December 5, 2020
Bhubaneswar: Odisha part of the “Tech for Tribals” initiative, a holistic programme started by TRIFED, in collaboration with Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) under the ESDP programme, has been launched on December 5, 2020 Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), Bhubaneswar is the technology partner that TRIFED has partnered with to implement the programme in Odisha.
The online launch event was attended by Dr. Achyuta Samanta, Hon’ble Member of Parliament and Founder, Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) and Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Shri Pravir Krishna, Managing Director, TRIFED, senior officials from TRIFED and TDCCOL / ITDA and members of Van Dhan Kendras and other stakeholders
156 Van Dhan Vikas Kendras across 14 districts of Odisha are being established for which a training programme is being conducted. 25 tribal beneficiaries from each of these 156 VDVKs will be trained in various facets of micro-enterprise creation, management and functioning in batches. This will be scaled up to 10,000 beneficiaries gradually. The training will start with Beneficiaries from 78 VDVKs initially and will eventually cover all the 156 VDVKs.
The online event was begun with the lighting of the lamp in by the District welfare officers of the 4 districts attending the launch namely Nuapada, Sundargarh, Rayagada, and Sambalpur.
Speaking on the occasion of the launch as the Chief Guest, Shri Pravir Krishna, Managing Director, TRIFED, spoke about how it is a proud moment for TRIFED to associate with the world-renowned institutions of KIIT and KISS and take this noble initiative forward. “TRIFED has a composite programme, which takes into components its various initiatives such as tribal VDVK Start-ups, TRIFOOD project, technology (Tech for Tribals) and retail aspects to transform tribal beneficiaries to entrepreneurs and make them self-reliant.”
Dr. Achyuta Samanta, who is known for his outstanding work with the tribals for the past three decades, expressed his happiness at the launch of this noble initiative and Entrepreneurship Skill Development programme in Odisha. “I am happy KISS has been chosen as the training partner to take this programme forward. KISS has been associated with tribals for the past three decades and this was an opportunity to continue their association further.”
Dr Samanta added that he had always believed that until the purchasing capacity of a tribal was increased, tribal poverty cannot be eradicated. Dr Samanta opined that with adequate training and entrepreneurial skill-building and facilitation and hand-holding of the tribal beneficiaries for activities such as branding and packaging, the purchasing and paying capacity of the tribals would increase. He mentioned that this particular training/ ESDP was a step in the right path – as this would lead to empowering the poor tribals and change them into tribal entrepreneurs.
During the event, it was decided that KISS, in coordination with TRIFED may depute a team of tribal entrepreneurs to Chhattisgarh for an on-hand experience to gain more knowledge about value addition activities. The association with KISS would be extended to make masks with Tribes India or TRIFED logo.
Ms. Sanghamitra, Deputy Director, KISS, on behalf of KIT and KIS thanked the tribal beneficiaries and all the participants and expressed her desire that this would result in a co-learning activity and progress towards the PM’s vision of a self-reliant country.
As the nodal organization committed to the welfare and growth of the tribal people, TRIFED is continuing steadfastly in its efforts to bring the tribal people towards mainstream development. In addition to its ongoing initiatives and programme implementations, “Tech for Tribals”, which was kickstarted in Chhattisgarh in October 2020, is a holistic programme that aims at the all-round development of tribals with a focus on entrepreneurship development, soft skills, IT, and business development through SHGs operating through Van Dhan Kendras (VDVKs).
Under this initiative, TRIFED has tied up with reputed national institutions such as IIT, Kanpur; Art of Living, Bangalore; TISS, Mumbai; KISS, Bhubaneswar; Vivekananda Kendra, Tamil Nadu and SRIJAN, Rajasthan, for conducting Van Dhan-ESDP Training Programs in the States of Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. This programme will mainly entail three aspects of development for sustainable entrepreneurship which can be considered as the three pillars – Engagement, Capacity Building, and Market linkages. The training modules will be disseminated among beneficiaries in a phased manner through various modes like online lectures and trainings, online activities and will gradually move to face to face interactions in class rooms, practical, onsite visits and exposure visits.
The programme aims to tap the traditional knowledge and skills of tribals and add branding, packaging and marketing skills to optimize their income through a market led enterprise model by setting up of Van Dhan Kendras (VDVKs). This also hopes to transform tribals into tribal entrepreneurs and industrialists.
Besides Odisha and Chhattisgarh, TRIFED plans to subsequently start the Van Dhan-ESDP Training Programme in other States with other Training Partners.
Tech for Tribals initiative, set up by TRIFED in collaboration with MSME, is a unique programme to make tribals of India Atmanirbhar and is focussed on to bridging the gap between tribal entrepreneurs and urban markets.
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