Members of the Kalahandi Vikash Parishad (KVP) paid heartfelt tributes to Sarvodaya leader Rabi Das, who promoted khadi spinning and weaving amongst tribals and Dalits of Nuapada district, in a meeting held in village Chhata of Komna block in Nuapada district. A two-minute silent prayer was observed by the members.
"Ravi Das struggled in his whole life for the development of poor and downtrodden; he would be remembered for his fearlessness and hard work," said the members. The meeting, chaired by KVP president Ajit Panda, was attended by Rabi Das’ daughter Dolly Das, Sarvodaya activists Ramakant Mandal, Trilochan Kata, Suresh Mallik, Hare Meher and women leaders of Chhata and Sanbaheli villages.
To create jobs for poor migrant workers of remote areas of Nuapada, Rabi Das trained people in khadi spinning and weaving and set up two spinning and weaving workshops at Chhata and Sunbahali in the late 1980s. He also encouraged the farmers to cultivate cotton and approached the Government to establish ginning and sliver plants in the district. However, the Government never took any step for establishing cotton processing units and the spinners were forced to import sliver from outside the State paying higher price and continued their struggle for survival of khadi.
Unfortunately, the KVP activities came to a standstill when the weavers living at Sanbaheli were displaced by the Lower Indra Irrigation Project that declared the weavers of Sanbaheli as affected persons but did not include the spinners as displace persons who sustained their lives by spinning yarns.
"Although we live in nearby unaffected villages, our livelihood depended on this small khadi production industry. Now, the production centre is uninhabitable due to waterlogging in the surrounding areas resulting in closure of the unit. Why the Government didn't compensate our loss," asked the spinners. The khadi industry provided employment to 182 families.
Encouraged by Dolly Das and Ramakant Mandal, the spinners and weavers decided to resume the khadi activities. It has been decided that Khadi work will start on December 3, the date of Rama Devi's birth.