What is in news : NITI AAYOG -TRIFED join hands for successful implementation of  Van Dhan Yojana in Tribal Clusters of Aspirational Districts of India

VAN DHAN YOJANA

• Aims at the economic development of tribals involved in the collection of Minor Food Produces (MFPs) by helping them in optimum utilization of natural resources and providing them with a sustainable livelihood.
• Van Dhan Vikas Kendras will be constituted which will provide skill up-gradation and capacity building training and setting up of primary processing and value addition facilities.

ASPIRATIONAL DISTRICTS

• The Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) was launched in January 2018 with the vision that renewed focus on interventions in the most backward districts of India.
• Anchored by NITI Aayog, the programme rests on the three pillars:
  • Convergence (of Central and State Schemes)
  • Collaboration (between Centre, State, District and Citizens)
  • Competition (among the districts through NITI Aayog’s Champions of Change dashboard)
• Aspirational Districts are those districts in India that are affected by poor socio-economic indicators.These are aspirational in the context, that improvement in these districts can lead to the overall improvement in human development in India.
• The objective of the program is to monitor the real-time progress of aspirational districts. ADP is based on 49 indicators from the 5 identified thematic areas, which focuses closely on improving people’s Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture & Water Resources, Financial Inclusion & Skill Development, and Basic Infrastructure.
• With States as the main drivers, ADP seeks to focus on the strength of each district, identify low-hanging fruits for immediate improvement, measure progress, and rank districts.