A year-and-a-half after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for government departments to use khadi products, the ministries are yet to comply. BJP party chief Amit Shah has now stepped in. Shah has written to all the ministries asking them to identify the use of khadi in their offices.
Amit Shah in his letter to the ministries on April 6, has asked them to identify the use of Indian handloom products in their offices and departments. In the past as well, the government had announced encouraging use of khadi for railway, aviation and tourism sectors. While the changes on ground are yet to be seen, Shah's new initiative could act as a catalyst for the handloom product.
The Public Procurement Policy for Micro and Small Enterprises makes it mandatory for central government, state government and public sector undertakings to procure a minimum of 20 per cent of their annual value of goods from Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC). However the Centre and state agencies are yet to comply with the policy.
The Prime Minister has also spoken about promoting Indian textiles across several forums. Five of his monthly radio broadcasts have stressed the need of promoting khadi. In his Mann ki Baat broadcast in January this year, Modi also announced setting up Khadi Gramudyog network in the villages across the country.
The commission has handed over a list of products manufactured by various units of the commission. The list includes home furnishings, toilet goods, food products, paper products and garments. KVIC has 5,000 registered institutions and over 7,075 retain sale outlets across the country. The KVIC also provides employment to more than 130 lakh people.
Promotion of khadi is also important for the government’s Make In India and Skill India campaigns. It has been on the agenda of the BJP’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). While Congress has always been associating itself with khadi, the RSS-BJP have also tried to get their share on the khadi plank.
“Khadi is nothing new for us. It is a historical fact that we have been promoting swadeshi and Indian textiles as part of our swadeshi campaign. The initiative being taken by the government and the BJP is a step in the right direction,” said an RSS spokesperson.
