This Gandhi Jayanti, an e-marketplace only for tribal sellers

New Delhi, Oct 02: Tribal artisans will now be able to sell their products at the click of a mouse as the government is set to launch a dedicated e-marketplace for them this Gandhi Jayanti to connect them to a larger national and international market.

Around 5 lakh tribal items across 20,000 categories, including textiles, paintings, home decor items, jewellery, and metal crafts, will be available on the website. There will be local collection centres from where the products will be supplied across the country.

"The Tribes India e-Marketplace will be similar to selling your products on e-commerce giants Amazon or Flipkart. The difference is just that it will be only for tribals," Managing Director of TRIFED Praveer Krishna said.

The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED), a government agency under the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry, was set up in 1987 with an aim to provide fair price for products of tribals across the country.

The products on the e-marketplace will undergo strict quality check and a committee will fix prices for each item. Quality organic products will be delivered to buyers, who will have the option to return them within 15 days.

For every Rs 100, Rs 70 will go to the tribal sellers, Krishna said.

He said tribal artisans will be trained and asked to register themselves as sellers on the website. The objective is to bring around 5 lakh tribal artisans online.

"The staff at our 15 regional offices across the country and state government officials working with TRIFED will train these tribals and help them get registered," he said.

"The suppliers comprise tribal artisans, tribal self-help groups and NGOs working with tribals. The platform provides tribal suppliers with an omni-channel facility to sell their goods through their own retailers and distributors, TRIFED's network of outlets and e-commerce partners as well as their own account in e-marketplace," Krishna added.