Khadi spinners' wages hiked by 75%

In a bid to make Khadi spinning a remunerative employment, the Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) on Monday revised the wages for the spinners upward to Rs 7 per hank (coiled form of Khadi yarn) - about 75 per cent hike over Rs 4 paid before November 2016.

At its 642nd meet, the KVIC management resolved to ensure minimum Rs 200 per day of wages for the Khadi spinners. "At our historic meeting at Sabarmati Ashram, we decided to increase the existing wages for spinners to Rs 7 per hank, and our effort is to provide the daily wage of Rs 200 to the millions of Khadi artisans to make it a remunerative employment alternate." Vinai Kumar Saxena, Chairman, KVIC told BusinessLine .

He noted that the wages for spinners remained significantly low at Rs 4 per hank till November 2016. "First, we revised it from Rs 4 per hank to Rs 5.50 per hank in November 2016. With the inflation hovering at around 5 per cent and the drought conditions persisting in several parts of rural India, the low wages in effect have reduced the opportunities of self reliance to Khadi artisans. So, now we have enhanced it to Rs 7 per hank with effect from April 1, 2017," said Saxena adding that it will also be enforced and implemented in an effective manner.

The Khadi institutions, which fail to comply with the revised wage rates, will face strict action from the Commission such as withholding of Market Development Assistance (MDA) to such institutions.

In line with the Centre's mission to reduce cash transactions, KVIC has started paying the wages to its beneficiaries through direct benefit transfer (DBT) to their bank accounts.

At its meeting in Ahmedabad, KVIC also decided to incentivise the revival of closed/dead Khadi Institutions, which had resulted into loss of production as well as loss of employment to rural communities from Khadi activities.

The commission looks to increase its annual production turnover from the current Rs 1065 crore to Rs 5000 crore in two years. KVIC looks to achieve the target partly by reviving the closed Khadi institutions.

"To achieve the objective, KVIC formulated a programme called Khadi FOCUS, which is now under consideration at the Ministry. One of the ways of increasing production in the country is by reviving Khadi institutions by inculcating a competitive spirit among the State Directorates of Khadi and incentivising their good efforts," the chairman stated.

There are about 700 dead Khadi institutions across the country, while 2323 are in the working condition.

Further, Saxena mentioned that KVIC will also provide a selling platform to products made in the prisons as an encouragement to prison inmates to develop life supporting skills while serving their terms in prison. "It is observed that these prison-made products attained high quality, as witnessed in the jails of Gurugaon and Tihar, where rehabilitation efforts are in progress. As an extension of these ongoing efforts, such prison made products will be provided a sale platform in KVIC's Khadi outlets," the KVIC management decided.

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