In pictures: How 'Vocal for Local' can change the face of India's Khadi industry

SUMMARY

As PM Narendra Modi said that the mindset of free India should be ‘vocal for local’ and the country should look at empowering the micro small and medium enterprises, one such organization that gives a platform to MSMEs in the county is Khadi and Village Industries Commission, that not only gives a platform to market but also sells and trains the Indian artisans, craftsmen.

By CNBCTV18.COMSept 3, 2020 9:40:45 PM IST (Updated)

As PM Narendra Modi recently said that Indians should be "vocal for local" and the country should look at empowering micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), one organisation that provides a major platform to MSMEs in India is the Khadi and Village Industries Commission. It not only gives them a platform to market but also sells and trains Indian artisans and craftsmen.

Vinai Kumar Saxena (in pic), Chairman, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) said, "Recently PM gave a push to local manufacturing via Vocal for Local and Aatma Nirbhar Bhatara programme, and the role of KVIC in this programme is extremely important."

"Agarbattis are a heritage product for India. But in 2011, the government had reduced the import duties on agarbattis from 30 percent to 10 percent and later to 5 percent, thus making India import almost 80 percent of agarbatti requirements. This killed the entire agarbatti manufacturing industry,” Saxena added.

"India uses 1,490 tonne per day of agarbattis and lakhs of people were employed in this industry. But with cheap imports, people lost employment and now with the push of PM, India hiked duties on agarbattis, new jobs have been being created and many local institutions are getting back to the sector. Not just agarbattis, even the machines used in the manufacturing of agarbattis are slowly being manufactured in India. Around 90 percent of machines used in agarbatti manufacturing were imported until recently and we are shifting to locally-made machines,” Saxena pointed out.

Khadi has been diversifying in many new areas apart from the traditional ones. Some of our units are now manufacturing parts of ventilators, Saxena highlighted.

He added that 2,600 institutions in India are engaged in manufacturing several local khadi products and they excel in their product lines. There are certain categories of khadi-made textiles, which no one or no machine can manufacture anywhere in the world. These include muslin, silk etc. Even silk was being imported and now we have requested the government to ban these imports. We expect action on this soon.”

Khadi India has 3,34,000 Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) units/institutions which are already operational in India and this year it is expecting to increase these units to as many as possible. As compared to last year, in the first five months of the fiscal, which were impacted by the pandemic, KVIC managed to install 44 percent more units.

A lot of government schemes are aligned with the work that KVIC does. KVIC also has the mandate to provide a platform not just to assist in setting up manufacturing units, but also to provide these people and units with a marketing platform.

Under the KVIC flagship employment scheme – Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Khadi has ensured that employment in generated.

"A lot of khadi units manufacture products that are used in ventilators,” Saxena said.

"So a lot of transition has come since the Atmanirbhar push has come in place and with such successful projects along with this push has added to the energy of these units. You see any big brand across the world; it has started from a small village only,” added Saxena.

Encouraged with the call to make local more vocal, the self-help groups in India are gearing up for the big demand push and coping up with the new challenge.

One such institution in Modinagar, UP is Manav Sewa Samiti Khanjarpur, that manufactures products like handloom, textiles, soaps, shampoos etc, which are then procured by Khadi India to be sold under their brand.

Geeta, a charkha spinner (in pic) working since last 20 years said, "We just want locally manufactured products to be sold widely in the country and once the products are sold, it will add to the progress of the nation.” -- Location: Manav Sewa Samiti Khanjarpur, a Khadi India manufacturing institution at Modinagar, Ghaziabad

Babita, another charkha spinner (in pic), working since the last 10 years said, "Only once locally made products will be sold, it will add to the economic progress of the country, lead to more employment generation and only then our incomes will improve.”

Shri Ram Ruhela, Purchase Head, Manav Sewa Samiti Khanjarpur stated that the thread spun over charkhas are woven into a 90-inch wide khadi handloom fabric

Kapil Ruhela, Marketing Head, Manav Sewa Samiti Khanjarpur, said that they ensure manufacturing of creams, shampoos, soaps etc are done with proper quality checks so that there is no compromise on the quality of the products sold under the khadi brand.

Manav Sewa Samiti Khanjarpur, a Khadi India manufacturing institution at Modinagar, Ghaziabad district, UP, was set up in 1992 and they diversified into soaps, creams, shampoo, face packs and other cosmetic products in 2002.

Manav Sewa Samiti Khanjarpur provides direct and indirect employment to 400-500 people who can choose to work from home as well.

As Khadi India looks to adopt more self-help groups, MSMEs across the country will get more employment opportunities and will be able to help employees re-skill and improve their income.

Though vocal for local push has given a new dimension to the MSMEs of the country, more and more are yet to start their new journey.