New Delhi: Hailing the efforts of TRIFED, Union Tribal Minister Arjun Munda said on Friday that the tribal marketing arm of the ministry has doubled its efforts throughout the pandemic in aiding the tribal people in employment and livelihood generation and working steadfastly towards its mission of tribal empowerment through enterprise and commerce.
While speaking at TRIFED's 34th Foundation Day, the minister said, "It is commendable that TRIFED has taken up a transformational initiative for tribal livelihoods encompassing large number of tribal persons spread out in far-flung areas of the country."
Highlighting the importance of Van Dhan and Udhyam Shri, Munda said that the forests and the tribal people living there along with the forest produce are our capital. "The Prime Minister has given the vision that through value addition of our forest produce, we can take the forest products to the international market. Professionalism and competitiveness are the key words in today's market based economy which must be the focus while marketing of tribal products," he said.
Reiterating TRIFED's commitment and setting forth its mission for the next coming years, Pravir Krishna, Managing Director, TRIFED said that over 8 per cent of India's population are Scheduled Tribes (STs).
"Currently our appreciation of them is mainly for their diverse and unique culture, handicrafts and songs. However, TRIFED is trying to strengthen their livelihoods and make the tribes economically self-reliant in their traditional habitat. This is the call of Atmanirbhar Bharat and it is with this focus in mind, TRIFED is working towards the tribal cause," Krishna said.