For the first time since Independence, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has launched a charkha (spinning wheel) for coarse Khadi weaving.

The technologically-improved six and eight-spindle charkhas for course-count Khadi products is being seen as the first technological intervention after the inception of traditional single-spindle charkha. The new charkhas were unveiled by Union Minister for SMEs Giriraj Singh in the presence of KVIC Chairman V K Saxena here on Tuesday, according to a press release.

The course count six-spindle charkha has been developed by Khadi Prayog Samiti, Ahmedabad, a KVIC unit established in 1958 for technical intervention in Khadi activities. The KVIC had funded Rs 15 lakh to the Samiti in June 2017 for research and development in charkha technology.

KVIC had intervened for technological enhancement in the traditional single-spindle charkha four months ago. The new charkha would produce more course-count Khadi with less drudgery. At present, the course-count Khadi thread is produced from traditional single-spindle charkha, which can produce only four to five hanks per day, resulting into meagre income to the artisans.

The new six and eight-spindle charkhas will produce 20 to 25 hanks per day, increasing the artisans’ income substantially, to Rs 200 and more, per day. It would also reduce the drudgeries significantly.

In 1925, during the inauguration of Charkha Sangh, Gandhiji had appealed for the intervention of technology for increasing the income of Khadi artisans.

After Independence, the new charkha developed for the course-count Khadi (popularly known as Moti Khadi ), will be used to make towel, durries, napkins, carpets and other items.

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