This time of the year used to be a busy period for the sale of National flag. But covid-19 and the lockdown has made the manufacturing and the sale of national flag to fall down.
This is the first time in the history of Shree Gandhi Ashram, when the demand for the national flag made here is almost zero. No major or small orders have come since March. Everyone is upset with this. There is only one question in everyone's mind that the national flag which every countryman has felt proud in creating, keeping, waving, hoisting, why there is no demand for it on the occasion of Independence Day? Whereas in the past years, there was no leisure to breathe even these days. Every year on the occasion of August 15, at least forty thousand flags are sold, this time not a single flag has been taken from here.
When Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, in 1920, was demanding the support of the whole country to make the Non-Cooperation Movement successful against the British. At the same time, Acharya JB Kripalani, working in the Banaras Hindu University, quit his 250-month-old job and established the Shree Gandhi Ashram. The Shree Gandhi Ashram was established on 30 November 1920 and today its 47 regional offices are operated in the name of the regional Shree Gandhi Ashram. One of these is in Banna Devi.
According to people associated with the Gandhi Ashram, the transition period of Corona Virus, consequent lockdown, no mass organizing, cheap tricolor by private clothing firms etc are responsible for low selling of the national flag. Government apathy, no relaxation in Khadi, even five per cent GST on Khadi also reduced the speed of spinning wheel. However, till August 7, the national flag was stocked in the entire area of the regional Shri Gandhi Ashram, in which four standard size flags were present.
Printing takes place in Barabanki and Faizabad: After Khadi is ready, it comes to the ashram in Aligarh and it is sent to Barabanki and Faizabad for printing. On behalf of the Government of India, these are the only two districts near Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh where the national flag of Khadi Gramodyog Kendra and other textiles can be printed. No one else has the right to it. After printing from there, the national flag comes to Aligarh. Due to such a long process in different places, it also becomes expensive. Well, after that they are neatly decorated in stores.
The flag made in Aligarh flies up to Lucknow: Shriram Yadav, manager of the regional Shri Gandhi Ashram Banna Devi, told that there are ten stores in the district. Which includes Railway Road, Chitra Mahal, Samad Road, Jawan, Khair, Iglas, Atrauli, Jattari, Harduaganj, Chharra. In addition there is a store in Hathras district. Vrindavan, Govardhan, Chatta are the three stores in Mathura district. A store is also in Lucknow. In this way a total of 15 stores supply the national flag and other Khadi garments from here to about 18 districts including Noida, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Barabanki, lucknow etc.
Pooni comes from Rae Bareli: Santosh Mishra, Minister of the regional ShreeGandhi Ashram, says that Pooni comes to Aligarh from the Pooni plant of Khadi Village Industries located in Rae Bareli. Vijayad Bahadur Pandey, the administrator of the place where the thread of this yarn is made by the weavers to make cloth by giving it to the weavers, said that there were 300 weavers till the 1990s, now only 20-25 weavers are weaving.