Agartala, July 18: A landmark Indo-German Development Cooperation initiative is transforming rural livelihoods in Tripura through the ₹280-crore IDG-CREFLAT Project, aimed at strengthening the grassroots economy, promoting sustainable livelihoods, generating employment and enhancing skill development.
Implemented by the Tripura Forest Department in North Tripura and Dhalai districts, the project is already benefiting self-help groups (SHGs), common interest groups (CIGs) and rural youth through financial assistance and skill-based training programmes.
Speaking at a programme held on Friday at Rabindra Shatabarshiki Bhavan in Agartala, Forest Minister Animesh Debbarma said the initiative has emerged as a major catalyst for rural economic empowerment.
The Minister announced that 180 Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and 180 Common Interest Groups (CIGs)—a total of 360 groups—have each received ₹1 lakh as seed capital, amounting to ₹3.6 crore. He said the financial support would help expand income-generating activities, strengthen rural entrepreneurship and improve the economic condition of participating families.
Highlighting the project’s focus on employment generation, Debbarma said driving training programmes have been introduced for rural youth. The first batch of 40 trainees has successfully completed the programme and received driving licences and certificates, while another batch of 40 candidates is currently undergoing training.
“Skill development is one of the key pillars of this project. Our objective is to create sustainable livelihood opportunities for young people while strengthening the rural economy,” the Minister said.
The programme was attended by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) R.K. Samal, Additional Secretary of the Transport Department Subrata Choudhury, Project CEO and Project Director S. Prabhu, Chief Conservator of Forests Dr. K. Shashikumar, Dr. Honnareddy N, Dr. Wangdup Bhutia, and senior officials from various departments.
A special exhibition featuring products made by women-led SHGs was also organised during the event. Debbarma praised the quality of handmade products, particularly bags, saying they reflected the growing self-reliance of rural women.
He noted that Tripura currently has nearly 54,000 active SHGs involving around 4.86 lakh families. To strengthen these groups, the government has provided ₹79 crore as revolving funds and ₹715 crore as community investment funds.
During the programme, Project CEO and Director S. Prabhu outlined the vision of the IDG-CREFLAT initiative, while DCTA and PMC Dr. Vincent Darlong presented a progress report highlighting its objectives of improving incomes of forest-dependent families, strengthening community institutions and expanding livelihood opportunities.
The event concluded with awards presented to outstanding community workers, technical assistants, support teams, CIGs, Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) and Forest Department personnel for their contributions to the successful implementation of the project.
