With 11,000 new employees, over 1,600 news charkhas and close to 130 new looms, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is taking steps to add to India’s 125.22 million metres of annual Khadi production in the country.
It is investing about Rs 5.5 crore to distribute charkhas and looms under the Sahyog Program to bring up Khadi production by 7-9 percent by the end of FY18.
Of the total charkhas distributed, 550 are solar charkhas that cost Rs 80000 each while the 110 solar looms cost Rs 1.2 lakh each. With the initiative, KVIC now has 25 new production units across the country.
The corpus spent mostly on backward areas employed close to 11,000 artisans in areas like Haldwani in Uttarakhand, Banswara in Rajasthan, Bhandari in Bihar Beekagaon in Punjab, Pampore in Jammu and Kashmir, Silimkhowa in Assam, Vanaj in Gujarat and many others.
KVIC that produced 125.22 million meters of Khadi textile in 2016-17 worth Rs 1395.94 crores against 97.45 millions meters of it worth Rs 1065.6 crore in 2015-2016 would be producing a mixed bag of cotton, silk and wool with all the new production centres added to their kitty.
“The initiative not just adds on to the production of Khadi textile but also restores certain places of historical relevance and empowers women of various backward areas with an opportunity of sustainable income,” said Vinai Kumar Saxena, Chairman at KVIC.
For instance Sewapuri in Varanasi – an old Khadi Institution spread on 12 acres of area and once visited by Mahatma Gandhi – was lying in a shambles from the last 20 years. To restore the lost grace of that place, KVIC sanctioned Rs 20 lakh for the repair and renovation of the premises. A unit of 500 solar charkhas and 100 solar looms has been established there. This unit is established under the CSR funds provided by Rural Electrification Corporation (REC). Incidentally, it happens to be the first ever utilization of CSR funds in the Khadi activities.
“Of all the artisans employed a huge chunk of them are women. In places like Jayapur and Kakrahiya, 500 local women were trained. Each of these trained women have also been provided a loan of Rs 80,000, under the Prime Minister Employment Generation Program (PMEGP) – in which 35 percent subsidy has been provided by the KVIC – to start their own venture of spinning,” added Saxena.
Source: Money Control
