On December 18, 2020, Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) signed a Joint Communique with Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) and also inked 5 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with 5 government entities for the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PM-FME) Scheme.
- MoFPI signed an agreement with Union Bank of India as nodal bank for PM FME scheme.Union Bank of India would help in transferring the subsidy received from Centre and states into loan accounts.
- In another meeting chaired by Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister for FPI, 231 ODOP of 15 states and UTs were approved.
About MoUs:
The MoU’s were signed in the presence of Union Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE), Union Minister Arjun Munda, Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) and Minister of State (MoS) Rameswar Teli, MoFPI on the lines of Vocal for Local.
MoFPI has signed MoU with the following entities:
Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED)
- Benefit – MoU with TRIFED would help in branding of food products made by tribals under ‘TRIFOOD’.
- Establishment- 1987
- Managing Director (MD)- Pravir Krishna
- Headquarter- New Delhi
- Parent Ministry- Ministry of Tribal Affairs
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
- Benefit – MoU with ICAR would help in sharing food processing technology, packaging and machinery developed in various organisations.
- Establishment- 1929
- Director General (DG)- Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra
- Headquarter- New Delhi
- Parent Ministry- Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC)
- Benefit – MoU with NSFDC would enable capacity building, training, research and development of SC entrepreneurs, SHGs and other groups in food processing sector.
- Establishment- 1989
- Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD)- K Narayan
- Headquarter- Delhi
- Parent Ministry- Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED)
- Benefit – MoU with NAFED would help in developing new brand for ‘ NAFED FOOD’ products.
- Establishment- 1958
- Chairman- Dr. Bijender Singh
- Headquarter- New Delhi
- Parent Ministry- Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC):
- Benefit – NCDC MoU would help in preparing projects and detailed project reports of members of cooperative societies in food processing sector.
- Establishment- 1963
- Managing Director- Sundeep Kumar Nayak
- Headquarter- New Delhi
- Parent Ministry- Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
Key Points:
–The MoUs would help in providing employment and improving quality of life through Government schemes.
–Though these MoUs, organisations would function in a better way i.e. greater coordination and team work and people will get trained for food production.
About Joint Communique:
It was signed by Deepak Khandekar, Secretary, MoTA and Pushpa Subrahmanyam, Secretary, MoFPI in the presence Narendra Singh Tomar, Arjun Munda, Rameshwar Teli. The Joint communique was addressed to the states for the implementation of PM-FME Scheme and role of the both Central Ministries and their respective departments at State level was also highlighted.
Key Features:
–As a part of joint communique, MoTA will identify the tribal enterprises and groups in the food processing sector including minor forest produce.
–MoTA will also train and build capacity to support identified beneficiaries under PM-FME scheme through state, district and field level staff.
–TRIFED will provide handholding support to Tribal SHGs (Self Help Groups) and Van Dhan SHG and their members in preparation of DPRs, application process, getting necessary technical training, etc. for capital investment under PM-FME.
–MoFPI and MoTA will review the status and implementation modalities from time to time.
About PM FME scheme:
The scheme is being implemented by MoFPI under the AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan to support Micro Level Food Entrepreneurs, SHG, Co- operatives and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs). It has a total outlay of Rs 10,000 crores out of which Rs. 800 crores will be available for scheduled caste (SC) people.
- The expenditure will be shared by GOI and the States in ratio of 60:40.
- PM-FME Scheme provides for seed capital of up to Rs.40000 for working capital and purchase of tools for food processing.
- As a part of the scheme, MoFPI will develop incubation centers in tribal focused districts for common processing and training to tribal entrepreneurs.
The scheme has 4 major components viz:
- Support to individual and groups of micro enterprises
- Branding and Marketing support
- Strengthening institutional support
- Setting up robust project management frameworks
Additional info :
–MoTA is the nodal Ministry for the welfare of tribals but there are 37 other Ministries, who have to spend assigned percentage of their budget as per mechanism designed by NITI (National Institution for Transforming India ) Aayog, under Tribal sub Plan or Schedule Tribe Component (STC) for welfare of tribals.
–NITI Aayog and MoTA have been monitoring STC components of such Ministries regularly since 2017.
Recent Related News:
i.On November 18, 2020, Narendra Singh Tomar virtually inaugurated the capacity building component of the PM-FME Scheme. He also launched the Geographic Information System (GIS) One District One Product (ODOP) or GIS ODOP Digital Map of India.
ii.As a part of “Operation Green Scheme TOP to TOTAL”, MoFPI has announced a 50% air transportation subsidy for 41 notified fruits and vegetables from North East and Himalayan states to any place in the country.
