To increase the income of the tribal brothers of Madhya Pradesh, unique action plans are being implemented as per the instructions of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Well-planned efforts are being made for the economic and skill up-gradation of forest dwellers engaged in the collection, storage, processing and Marketing of non-nationalized minor forest produce.
Forest Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah informed that minimum support price of 32 minor forest produce species has been declared in the interest of forest dwellers. For the purchase of forest produce, 179 procurement centres and 47 godowns of minor forest produce have been built by the name of Apni Dukan.
Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Vikas Yojana is proving to be a boon for the forest dwellers community. The Forest Minister said that in the first phase of this scheme, 107 Van Dhan Kendra clusters have been established in 19 district unions of the state. There are 15 self-help groups in each cluster. Each self-help group will consist of 20 beneficiaries.
At these centres, the primary processing, packaging and marketing of locally available forest produce, agricultural and horticultural produce, etc. will be done by the beneficiaries.
About 350 types of medicines are being manufactured and sold by the Minor Forest Produce Processing and Research Centre in the name of Vindhya Herbals brand. Apart from this, at present 27 Sanjeevani Ayurvedic Centres have been established in different districts of the state.