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Amit Mitra

From glitzy khadi plazas to electronic charkhas, the Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is all set to roll out a slew of schemes to ensure the natural fabric gains a deeper market penetration, both in India and abroad.

The 50-year old KVIC believes that khadi, considered the symbol of India’s freedom struggle, can still compete with other fabrics, given the right injection of technology, marketing support and incentives to weavers. Says Ms Kumud Joshi, KVIC’s chairperson and former Governor of Andhra Pradesh: “Mahatma Gandhi has even more relevance today than he had in the past and he will have more relevance in the future than he has today. And I believe khadi shares the same destiny.”

In an effort to compete with the swanky retail malls that are mushrooming across the country, KVIC is planning to upgrade and embellish its marketing outlets. As part of this programme, it plans to set up a string of khadi plazas in select cities initially and expand the network in phases.

Khadi, which can boast of being 100 per cent natural and can be termed the ultimate cotton tissue cloth, is also being given a modern shade with the Commission roping in the National Institute of Fashion Technology for this purpose. As the first step towards making khadi more fashionable, KVIC has introduced the Product Development, Design Intervention and Packaging (PRODIP) scheme.

“The scheme has been introduced with the objective of improving the quality and design by way of innovative value addition, bringing out new product line, better packaging and labelling. Today, we have 286 PRODIP units under khadi and 68 units under village industries products,” Ms Joshi pointed out.

Further, keeping in tune with modern trends and to pander to the new tastes of the young generation buyers, a new strategy has been embarked upon envisaging mission projects on ready to use (RTU) khadi.

KVIC has a network of over 7,000 outlets, managed by more than 5,000 certified institutions (NGOs), including 13 departmental and 40 KVI board aided units. The Commission has also flagged off other promotional measures such as organising exhibitions, buyer-seller meets and incentives for export of its products.

Technological input is another area the KVIC is focussing on. A recent example is the prototype of an electronic charkha that it has brought out. Essentially, the electronic charkha, which generates electricity while it is being manually operated and that can be stored, is chiefly aimed at ensuring that weavers can work even during power cuts that are commonplace in rural India even today.

“Two hours of operation of the charkha can generate and store electricity that can charge domestic lights and even a radio for five hours during power cuts. It will be a boon to spinners who will now be able to experience the fusion of economic activity with the pleasure of radio-music, while working on the e-charkha with dusk to dawn luxury of domestic lighting despite power cuts,” points out Mr J.S. Mishra, KVIC’s Chief Executive Officer.

After KVIC realised that power cuts in rural areas were affecting spinning operations, it hit upon the idea of developing a charkha that can produce and store electricity. It discussed the idea with a Bangalore-based engineer, who came out with the first e-charkha that will be officially unveiled by KVIC soon.

The Commission has prescribed ambitious targets for itself for the Eleventh Plan. It plans to nearly double its sales of Rs 17,562 crore so far in the current Plan (including both khadi and village industry products) to Rs 31,700 crore during the 11th Plan period.

On the employment front, it intends to increase its employment generation of 88.92 lakh so far in the current Plan to 144.61 lakh during the 11th Plan Period. “I am, however, confident that we can achieve these targets before the Five-Year Plan — we can do this in maybe three years time. For, there is a great potential that exists,” Ms Kumud Joshi says.

In the area of village industries, KVIC has initiative a measure to form seven groups for development of the entire spectrum of the industries. These groups are: forest-based industry (medicinal plant, bee-keeping etc), polymer and chemical based industry (leather, non-edible oils and plastics), agro-based food processing (fruits, vegetables, processing of pulses and cereals), hand-made paper, rural engineering & bio-technology, mineral and textile & service.

KVIC also introduced the scheme of fund for regeneration of traditional industries (SFRUTI), which is designed to protect and preserve the arts and crafts of traditional artisans. The principal objectives include development of clusters of traditional industries, making traditional industries more competitive and market driven and to develop innovative schemes.

Listing some of the achievements under this programme, Ms Kumud Joshi pointed out that Ms Savina Khan in Jaipur could earn Rs 28,610 in the poly khadi segment, while another entrepreneur, Ms Soni Devi Koli, also from Jaipur, earned Rs 27,993 during the last five months. “This is a significant earning from the house. It only goes on to show the potential that this sector still has,” she points out.

KVIC plans to sharpen its focus on R&D and convergence, which envisages the Commission to play the role of a catalyst by coordinating with the different ministries and departments involved in rural development.

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