KVIC to set up khadi villages

Aiming to scale up employment at rural locations and push up the khadi and village industries products from the villages, the Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has initiated a project named Khadi Gaon (Khadi Village). The Commission will select individuals interested in being self-reliant through khadi spinning and other cottage industries and provide them basic training, along with the material required for such activities.

On the sidelines of a two-day workshop on agro-based khadi and village industries held by KVIC at Gujarat Vidyapeeth in Ahmedabad, Chairman of the Commission Vinai Kumar Saxena said, “We will select people who are interested to spin a charkha or other cottage industry at villages. They will be provided charkha and training to run it profitably. Initially, we plan to have five villages in each of the states across the country. This we will achieve in about a year’s time. The first of such Khadi Gaon is being developed at Vanej village in Banaskantha district in Gujarat.”

“We are changing the existing charkha design from 8 spindles to 10 spindles. We are also making it light-weight by using technology. This will increase the income by 25 per cent. We are trying to ensure that one khadi artisan should be able to make about 225-250 per day of earning,” added Saxena.