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West Bengal Tribal Development Co-operative
Corporation was established in the year 1976 as per the West
Bengal Co-operative Societies Act, 1973 in response to the
recommendations of National Agricultural Commission's report.
In the state, where proportion of tribal population is less,
the corporation comes under the Backward Class Welfare department.
The TDCC started with the mandate to procure and sale essential
commodities, to procure surplus agricultural produces and
forest produces, to cater to the credit requirements, and
lastly to engage in all developmental works in tribal dominated
areas. TDCC carried out its duties with the 4 regional offices
and 2 branch offices it has over the state.
Similarly Large Area Multi Purpose Co-operative
Societies were promoted by the government in the tribal and
backward area of all the states to engage in meeting of all
the economic needs of the people. In West Bengal, LAMPS were
started in the year 1974-75 with 8 of them being registered
under the co-operation department. At present there are 121
LAMPS in the state with no society coming up in the last 5-6
years due to the fund crunch of the government. The membership
of LAMPS varies from 500 to 3000 spread over a number of villages.
The linkage between LAMPS and TDCC is that
government funds are channelised to the former through the
later for any kind of programme including the ones by Forest
Department. Even the salaries of staff employed in the LAMPS
goes through TDCC. But the issue that needs to be highlighted
is that government has independently promoted both LAMPS and
WBTDCC and there is no structural relation. TDCC is not the
federation of LAMPS. Even both of them come under different
departments. And whereas both of them were expected to generate
their expenditures from their operations, the government till
now gives managerial subsidy to both since inception.
At the moment both TDCC and LAMPS are not
able to carry out any of the economic functions that they
were created for except for procuring KL and Sal seed. They
only implement the poverty alleviation programmes of different
government departments. With regards to forest produces, the
monopoly rights of KL and Sal seed is vested with TDCC on
behalf of LAMPS. However, only 20 LAMPS located in the southwest
districts of the state are engaged in procurement of the produces.
As has already been mentioned, while LAMPS does all the fieldwork
for procurement, TDCC's responsibility is to arrange the finance
and sale the produces.
TDCC advances the government finance to LAMPS
prior to collection season. Since this does not cover the
whole costs, LAMPS have to generate temporary funds to carry
out the day to day affairs during the collection season. After
sale of the produces, TDCC returns all the money realised
from sales after deducting the advance, 6% interest on the
money advanced and 1% of sales turnover towards its own management
charges. Needless to say the 1% commission is not sufficient
to cover the costs it incur.
Since all calculations are done taking one
LAMPS as a unit, it can make profit or loss depending on sales
realisation and costs incurred. It is LAMPS who bear the profit
and loss and not the TDCC. What needs a special mention at
this stage is that since raising part of the working capital
lies with LAMPS, it is the LAMPS who are entrepreneurial who
can profit from the operations and carry it forward the next
year to procure more and then profit more. However this is
not how it happens, due to inherent problems in LAMPS, it
is not often that they make profits. And gradually they loose
the capacity to procure KL.
There is one more issue that needs mention
- the present in-charge of KL and Sal seed operation at WBTDCC
is an IFS officer. How does this information help? It is easier
to liaison with the forest department with an IFS officer
being at the helm of affairs.
WBFDC
West Bengal Forest Development Corporation
Limited was incorporated under the Companies Act in 1974 on
the recommendations of National Commission of Agriculture
in their interim report in 1972. The present objectives of
WBFDC are:
- Help conserve fragile eco-system of Darjeeling
Himalayas in areas it operates
- Promote JFM with people's participation
in South WB
- Offer timber, NTFPs, and value added products
at reasonable prices
- Help develop awareness for conservation
of nature through eco-tourism
- Help develop and promote wood based industries
- Generate rural employment through forestry
and related activities
- Help popularise the use of eco-friendly
inputs like bio-fertilisers for enhancement of soil fertility.
A Managing Director, followed by 2 General
Managers head the organisation with employee strength of 14500.
There are 8 operational divisions in the field, 5 in north,
2 in south and 1 at the headquarter in Kolkota. This is one
of the few state owned organisations that has made profit
since its inception. The organisation is engaged in the following
activities to attain the above objectives
- Management of forest areas leased out to
the corporation in the Kalimpong Forest division
- Harvesting and marketing of timber and
non-timber forest produces as an agency of the forest directorate
- the corporation has been entrusted by the state government
with the harvesting and marketing of timber, poles, pulp
wood and firewood on agency basis from all territorial divisions
under the forest department.
- Afforestation - The organisation takes
up afforestation activities in the North and South West
Bengal every year.
- Industrial Activities - The Corporation
has 4 saw mills, solar and mechanised seasoning kilns, a
preservative treatment plant, and a Polythene Tube Manufacturing
plants.
- Non-timber forest produces - the corporation
procures and sales honey, cintronella grass, and katha from
forest areas of the state. It has a semi mechanised Katha
manufacturing plant. The honey primarily procured from Sunderbans
is filtered and then marketed under the brand name of Mouban.
Though the corporation markets Mouban honey through co-operatives,
stockists and agents, the maximum is sold through retail
at the department counters.
- Adventure and wilderness tourism - the
corporation has developed some eco-tourism centres and is
responsible for its maintenance and upkeep.
- Bio-fertiliser - The corporation now manufactures
and markets composite bio-fertilisers under the brand name
Azophos and Rhizophos that has found acceptability in the
forestry as well as tea gardens, sericulture and agriculture.
The following graph depicts the turnover of
the corporation over the last 2 decades. It can be seen that
the turnover has increased rapidly in the last 2 years. This
is due to increase in sales of timber and poles.
Figure : Sales
Revenue of WBFDC (in Rs. Millions)
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