Lok Sabha Question No. 5918 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-04-10
Subject: Tribals in Handicraft and Cottage Industries
Ministry: TRIBAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: REKHA ARUN VERMA, BHAVANA GAWALI (PATIL)

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## TRIBALS IN HANDICRAFT AND COTTAGE INDUSTRIES

†5918.  SHRIMATI REKHA VERMA:

SHRIMATI BHAVANA PUNDALIKRAO GAWALI PATIL:

Will the Minister of TRIBAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:-

(a) the  efforts  made  by  the  Government  to  improve  the  situation  of  Handicraft  and cottage industries which have the potential to become a means of livelihood for the tribal community;

(b) whether there is  any smooth process for involvement of the Union Government, the State Government and the district level administration for effective implementation of such schemes and if so, the details thereof; and

(c) the other steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS (SHRI JASWANTSINH BHABHOR)

(a) The  Tribal  Cooperative  Marketing  Development  Federation  of  India  Limited (TRIFED)  which  is  a  cooperative  society  registered  under  the  Multi-State  Cooperative Societies Act and is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, has been  implementing  the  scheme  namely 'Institutional  Support  for  Development  and Marketing  of  Tribal  Products/Produce"  of  the  Ministry  of  Tribal  Affairs  for  socioeconomic  development  of  tribal  communities  of  the  country.  The  details  of  the  scheme being  implemented  by  TRIFED  for  improvement  of  tribal  handicraft  industries  in  the country is annexed.

(b) TRIFED  operates  the  scheme  through  the  various  State  Tribal  Development Cooperative Corporations (STDCCs) and State Forest Development Cooperative Corporations(SFDCCs) for smooth operation, thus involving the State Governments.

(c) National  Scheduled  Tribes  Finance  and  Development  Corporation  (NSTFDC), under  the Ministry  of Tribal Affairs, extends  concessional  financial assistance to individuals  or  group  of  STs  for  undertaking  income  generation/  business  activities  for their  economic  empowerment.  The  financial assistance is extended through State Channelizing Agencies and certain PSU  Banks/  RRBs  and  National Cooperative Development  Corporation  (NCDC)  having  refinance  agreements  with  NSTFDC  for eligible STs up to Double the Poverty Line Income limit which is Rs.98,000/- p.a. for rural areas and Rs.1,20,000/- p.a. for urban areas.

Some of the prominent schemes of NSTFDC are:

· Term Loan scheme: NSTFDC provides Term Loan for any income generation scheme costing upto Rs.25.00 lakhs per unit. Financial assistance is extended upto 90% of the cost of the scheme and the balance is met by way of subsidy/ promoter's contribution/ margin money. Interest rate chargeable is 6% p.a. for loan upto Rs. 5 lakhs, 8% p.a. for loans ranging between Rs. 5 lakhs to Rs. 10 lakhs and 10% p.a. for loan exceeding Rs.10 lakhs on the entire amount of loan.

·  Adivasi Mahila Sashaktikaran Yojana (AMSY): Under the scheme, Scheduled Tribes women  can  undertake  any  income  generation  activity.  Loans  upto  90%  for  scheme costing upto Rs.1 lakh are provided at a concessional rate of interest of 4% p.a.

· Micro  Credit Scheme  for Self Help Groups: The  Corporation provides loans uptoRs.50,000/- per member and Rs.5 Lakhs per Self Help Group (SHG). Interest rate chargeable is 6% p.a.

·  Adivasi  Shiksha  Rrinn  Yojana:  Under  this  scheme,  financial  assistance  upto  Rs.5.00 lakh  at  concessional  rate  of  interest  of  6%  per  annum  is  provided  to  ST  students  for pursuing professional/ technical education including Ph.D. in India. Ministry of Human Resources  Development,  Govt.  of  India  provides  interest  subsidy  for  this  scheme, whereby, no interest is payable by a student during the course period and one year or six months after getting the job, as the case may be. There is also a provision for providing further  concessional  finance  for  undertaking any  income  generation  activity  after completion of studies.

·  Tribal Forest Dwellers Empowerment Scheme: Under the scheme, NSTFDC provides financial  assistance  to  Scheduled  Tribes  given  land  rights  under  Scheduled  Tribes  and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. Loan upto 90% of the scheme costing upto Rs.1 lakh can be provided at rate of interest of 6% p.a. This is a new scheme introduced and NSTFDC has requested the SCAs to implement the same.

·  Scheme  for  NGOs/  EVAs:  This  is  a  newly  launched  scheme  under  which  NSTFDC provides loans uptoRs.50,000/- per member and Rs. 5 Lakhs per Self Help Group (SHG) through NGOs/ EVAs. The interest rate chargeable is 12% p.a. from members of SHGs against which they will get an interest incentive of 4% on timely payment thus making the effective rate of interest to 8%.

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## Statement in reply to part(a) of Lok Sabha Unstarred No.5918 for 10.04.2017 by Shrimati Rekha Verma and Shrimati Bhavana Pundalikrao Gawali Patil regarding  'Tribals in Handicraft and Cottage Industries'.

The  details  of  the  activities  under  the  scheme  of  'Institutional  Support  for Development and Marketing of Tribal Products/Produce' are as under:

## 1. Retail Marketing Development Activity:

TRIFED is the only body of the Government of India at the national level engaged in marketing development of tribal products including art & craft items. TRIFED has been marketing  tribal  products  through  its  own  shops  called  ' TRIBES  India '  &  through  the outlets  of  the  state  emporia  on  consignment  basis.    Starting  with  a  single  shop  in  New Delhi in 1999, TRIFED now has 30 shops of its own and 13 outlets on consignment basis located all over India.

## 2. Sourcing of tribal products:

TRIFED  has  developed  a  system  of  sourcing  products  of  art  &  craft  made  by empanelled  tribal  suppliers.  The  suppliers  comprise  of  individual  tribal  artisans,  tribal SHGs,  Organisations/  Agencies/NGOs  working  with  tribals,  who  are  empanelled  as suppliers of TRIFED as per the guidelines for empanelment of suppliers.  The products procured  by  TRIFED  are  then  sold  through  its  marketing  platform  of  'Tribes  India' showroom.  Such tribal products are categorized under --

-  Metal Craft
-  Tribal Textiles
-  Tribal Jewellery
-  Tribal painting
-  Cane & Bamboo
-  Terracotta & Stone Pottery
-  Gift and Novelties &
-  Organic and Natural Food Products

## 3. Organizing Tribal artisan Mela (TAM)

In order to enhance the number of tribal suppliers so that they are associated with Retail Operation, TRIFED organises Tribal Artisan Mela (TAM) at District/tehsil level as an exercise to reach tribals located in the interior tribal areas and source tribal art and craft directly from the tribal from the tribal artisans/group of artisans.

## 4. Exhibitions:

TRIFED  also organises and participates in exhibitions for promotion and development of tribal product, the details of which are given below:

- o 'Aadishilp'  TRIFED  organises  National  Tribal  Craft  Expo  by  the  name  of 'Aadishilp', in which individual tribal artisans, tribal SHGs, Agencies/Organizations working with tribals are invited to participate and showcase their rich tribal heritage. The  main  objective  in  holding  these  events  is  to  provide  an  opportunity  to  tribal artisans to interact directly with art lovers for getting their feedback about their taste and preferences, which helps them in modifying their product designs and creations accordingly..
- o 'Aadichitra' TRIFED has started an exhibition by the name of 'Aadichitra' since 2010, in which tribal paintings like Gond from Madhya Pradesh, Saora from Orissa, Warli from Maharashtra and Pithora paintings from Gujarat, are exclusively displayed and sold for promotion of tribal painting. The tribal artists are also invited to demonstrate their skills during such exhibitions.
- o Octaveis  a  dance  festival  of  North  Eastern  Region,  organized  by  Ministry  of Culture,  Govt.  of  India.  TRIFED  has  collaborated  with  Ministry  of  Culture  to organize participation of tribal artisans from North Eastern States in such events for promotion of tribal art and craft which are organized at various places across country.
- o Besides, TRIFED also participates in a number of exhibitions across the country for promotion and sale of tribal products.

## 5.    Handicraft Skill Development Activity:

TRIFED  had/has  been  undertaking  handicraft  development  trainings  for  tribal artisans in 5 modules which are as under:

-  Primary Level Training (PLT) - Aimed for fresh batch of 20 tribal artisans in which training on basic techniques of craft imparted to equip them for producing the craft. The duration of the program is 3 months.
-  Advance Level Training (ALT) -  This training was meant for those tribal artisans who perform well in the PLT and show potential of becoming craftsperson of a better quality, whose craftsmanship was honed by design and technology inputs through a Reinforcement Training for 15 artisans for a period of 45 days. This training program has  been  discontinued  since  2014-15  after  introduction  of  Comprehensive  Training Program (CTP) in 2013-14.
-  Comprehensive  Training  Program  in  Handicraft  (CTP)  -  Revision  of  the  Training programs  was  undertaken  during  the  year  2013-14  and  a  new  module  of  training program was inducted by merging the above two training programs, which aimed at honing the skill of the semi-skilled tribal artisans to capacitate them for manufacturing  quality  craft  items  to  be  competitive  in  the  market.  This  training program is for a Batch of 20 trainees with duration of 90 days with a view to upgrade their  skill  through  design  and  technical  inputs  to  enhance  the marketability of their handicraft products and empower them for entrepreneurship development.
-  Design  Workshop  Training  (DWT)  for  a  Batch  of  20  Artisans,  who  are  already supplier to TRIFED, in 21 days  with a view to hone their skill through design input on the basis of the Market feedback to enhance the quality and marketability of their products.
-  Training of Trainers (TOT) which aims at creating a pool of Master Craftsperson out of  those  expert  artisans,  who  will  carry  the  craft  and  technology  to  those  artisans whose skill need upgradation. The duration and the batch size vary as per the nature of the craft and availability of training resource.
-  Besides  above,  TRIFED  has  initiated  a  new  concept  of  Product  development programmes  (PDPs)  during  the  financial  year  2016-17  for  development  of  new products from the empanelled tribal artisans and artisans trained by TRIFED.

From  the  year  2015-16  TRIFED  is  only  conducting  2  types  of  training  i.e., Comprehensive  Training  Program  in  Handicraft  (CTP)  and  Design  Workshop  Training (DWT).

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