Van Dhan Vikas Kendra

India is a large and ethically as well as a culturally diverse nation. The Indian Government plans to leverage this diversity and provide an outlet for the tribal population in the nation to not only earn a source of income and improve their skills but also bring their traditional knowledge for the world to see.

In line with this vision of the government, the Prime Minister of India had launched the Van Dhan Vikas Kendra on April 14th, 2018 in Bijapur, Chattisgarh.

What is the Van Dhan Vikas Karyakram?

• Van Dhan Vikas Karyakram is an initiative which aims to target the livelihood generation for tribal population by harnessing the wealth of forest hence the name Van Dhan.
• The Van Dhan Vikas Karyakram aims to promote and use the collective strength of tribal people to achieve a viable scale.
• It aims to use the traditional knowledge and skillsets of the tribal people by using modern information & technology for the up-gradation of traditional output at each stage.
• It will also convert the tribal ancient knowledge into a self-sustaining and economizing activity.
• The initial pilot Van Dhan Vikas Kendra was established with a cost of Rs.25 lakhs and it would cater to ten Self Help Groups of thirty tribal gathers each. 25% of the costs were provided by the State Government.

Van Dhan Kendras

Van Dhan Kendras are the points of implementation for the Van Dhan Vikas Karyakram. A Van Dhan Kendras is established in an area after it has been assessed by a survey which establishes the area?s potential and land (which is to be provided by the State Government).?