The government has merely spent ₹133.69 crore in the last five years for procuring minor forest produce from tribal people in the country and funds allocated for the same have been coming down consistently over the years.
Under a scheme for creating mechanism for marketing and developing value chain for Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through minimum support price, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs procured MFP worth ₹133.69 crore since 2014-15, said Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Renuka Singh Saruta in a reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
The total quantity of MFP procured by the government during the period between 2014-15 and 2018-19 was 59,958 tonnes. Prominent among them were tamarind, karanj seeds, mahua seeds and sal seeds.
Funds earmarked
If the Centre had spent ₹30.43 crore and ₹55.05 crore in 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively, the funds earmarked for procuring MFP at floor prices was ₹5.44 crore in 2018-19 and ₹15.41 crore in 2017-18 respectively.
However, the Minister explained that the scheme comes into effect only when the market price of the forest products, which are collected and sold in the market by tribal people, fall below the MSP set by the government.