The Central paramilitary forces like CRPF, BSF and ITBP are set to adopt signature fabric of the nation — khadi —for uniforms following a directive from Union Home Minister Amit Shah who has sought introduction and use of these products from the cottage sector as part of the ongoing celebration of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Besides the adoption of the khadi fabric, the paramilitary forces are also going to introduce only “swadeshi” origin items manufactured by the khadi sector in messes and canteens. Officials of various paramilitary officials have already contacted the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) with their specifications of the fabric and the list of items as also volume of the products required for their canteens and messes.
The KVIC has has provided the samples of the disruptive pattern/camouflage designs of the khadi fabric including woolens.The uniform fabric will be in the nature of Poly-khadi (70 per cent cotton enriched with 30 per cent polyester), cotton besides woolen cloth.
The KVIC has also provided a list of swadeshi items for the messes and canteens like pickles, papad, honey, soaps, detergents, shampoos, phenol, tea and mustard oil among others
During a meeting with chiefs of the paramilitary forces recently, Shah instructed the officials to rely on khadi fabric for uniforms and items manufactured by the sector for the canteens and messes.
With a combined strength of nearly 10 lakh serving personnel in the seven paramilitary forces under the command of the Union Home Ministry, the decision is expected to revolutionize the khadi sector and will create lakhs of man-hours for the cottage sector artisans across the country.
Besides the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) which is the biggest with over three personnel in strength and Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), National Security Guards (NSG) and Assam Rifles (AR) are under the administrative control of the Home Ministry.
After Shah pitched for the khadi fabric and products in the paramilitary forces, the KVIC is set to create a platform for huge number of livelihood opportunities in the Khadi and Village Industries sector which is successfully creating jobs in remote and rural areas, the Commission officials said.
Following the Home Minister’s directive, several meetings were held between the KVIC and paramilitary officials.
Sources said that the meetings had been going on for the last two weeks and have reached the stage of finalization, after several samples were shared by KVIC for approval by the paramilitary Forces.
The Chairman of KVIC Vinai Kumar Saxena told the Pioneer, “The samples of cotton and woolen uniforms, blankets and camouflage uniform etc. provided by the para-military forces have been developed by KVIC and submitted to few forces for final approval. The sample developed for camouflage fabric was not only liked by one of the para-military forces but was also found quite superior from the existing material used by the forces.”
Saxena further said, “This move will not only double the annual turnover of Khadi and Village Industries which is nearly Rs 75,000 crores currently, but also create millions of additional man hours for the Khadi artisans who will weave millions of meters of Khadi fabric for our paramilitary forces.
The Khadi fabric is most suitable for the tropical climate conditions in the country as the handwoven fabric is “breathable” in nature and also easy to maintain besides being eco-friendly, he said.
The BSF alone would require 11 lakh metres of fabric for the uniform of nearly 2.5 lakh personnel.
“As the Home Minister has also asked the forces to keep different village industries’ products in all their canteens, it will certainly create faith and confidence among the artisans, as their niche products will now be showcased before the real guards of our nation,” Saxena said, adding one the designs are approved, the KVIC will fulfil the supply commitments within two months.
Khadi, which is a symbol of pride and patriotism has been achieving several accolades in the recent past under the current regime.
Quite noticeably, various steps are being taken by KVIC for increasing the sales and promotion of Khadi and Village Industries products, such as sale of Khadi Gift Coupons, partnerships with ecommerce portals for the sale of Khadi products, promotion of pottery at railway stations, ban on import of agarbatti, ban on import of National Flag, new HS Code for 11 khadi products, new Khadi stores and development of centralized Government Supply modules.
KVIC has also taken a number of initiatives to check the malpractices by various bogus institutions, and penalizing the violators in order to ensure the quality of Khadi and Village Industries products sold under the brand Khadi is pure and genuine.