In a big development, the Centre, on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, announced a major wage hike for Khadi artisans across the country. The Khadi and Village Industries Commission or KVIC under the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises or MSME approved the hike on October 2, 2024.
KVIC Chairman Manoj Kumar said, “We announced a 25 percent increase in wages for the spinners working on the charkha and a 7 percent increase for the weavers on the looms.”
This is going to be for the betterment of the artisans and their livelihood.
Apart from the hike in wages, KVIC gave a discount to its customers. There is a 20 percent discount on Khadi products and a 10 percent discount on Village Industries products. The offers are at the flagship Khadi Bhavan in Connaught Place, New Delhi, and other places in the country.
The announcement on increasing the wages was made on September 17, 2024. While the Khadi ceremony was in process at Porbandar, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi. The move proved once again how committed the government is to the betterment of Khadi artisans.
Earlier, they used to get Rs 10 per hank. Now, after the hike, they would get Rs 12.50, which is an increase of Rs 2.50 per hank. This is the second hike in wages since Kumar took over. The last hike was on April 1, 2023, when the wages increased from Rs 7.50 to Rs 10 per hank.
Kumar attributed these changes in the Khadi sector to Prime Minister Modi. During his leadership, business in the Khadi sector crossed Rs 1.55 lakh crore last fiscal. With a view to ensure that the artisans benefit, KVIC decided to increase wages.
About 3,000 registered institutions in the country are there, which employ nearly 4.98 lakh artisans. Out of these, about 80% are women. In the last decade, wages have gone up by almost 213% symbolizing the rise of rural India economically via Khadi.
ANI
