Delhiites are lapping up khadi and village industries products with the flagship Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan store of the Khadi Village and Industries Commission (KVIC) witnessing a record sale of Rs 1.2 crore on Dhanteras.
It is a four-and-a-half-fold jump over the last highest sale in a single day of Rs 27 lakh recorded in 2015. And on the eve of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Mann ki Baat’ wherein he cited the outlet’s example to showcase how khadi has turned from a fashion statement to an agent of transformation, the store had clocked a 225 per cent increase in its sales at Rs 74.7 lakh (October 28). It was Rs 33.23 lakh on the same day in 2016.
Countrywide too, khadi sales have increased by 90 per cent over the last year. In the first six months of financial year 2017-18, khadi sales were worth Rs 813.86 crore compared to Rs 429.93 crore last year in the same period, as per the data available from the KVIC.
Commission’s chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena attributed the bumper sale of khadi products to several promotional initiatives backed by the PM’s appeals made from time to time, encouraging people to use the items and the increasing trend of using organic products worldwide.
“The Prime Minister always has some innovative ideas about khadi and the results of this sector also second him with some stupendous performance in the recent past,” he said.
On Sunday, Modi, in his latest episode of ‘Mann ki Baat’, said, “Khadi was nation earlier and we talked of khadi fashion but with my recent experience I can say that after ‘Khadi for nation’ and ‘Khadi for fashion’ now, khadi is for transformation. Khadi and handloom have transformed the lives of the poorest of the poor and are emerging as a powerful means of empowering them. It is playing a very important role for gramodaya.”
Modi pointed out how on the 17th of this month on the day of Dhanteras, the Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan store in Delhi witnessed a record sale of Rs 1.2 crore.
“During Diwali, khadi gift coupon sales recorded an overwhelming 680 per cent rise. Compared to last year, the total sales of khadi and village industries products have risen almost by 90 per cent. One can clearly see that today, the youth, the elderly and women of every age group are taking to khadi,” he said.
Increasing awareness about handloom and other khadi products are also leading to better results. “The sale of khadi coupons between April 2017 and September 2017 was recorded Rs 5.85 crore, which is 680 per cent more than the coupon sale of Rs 86 lakh last year,” as per the KVIC statistics.
“Between April 2016 and September 2016 the overall sale this year also recorded a massive growth of 89 per cent with a sale of Rs 813.86 crore between April 2017 and September 2017, with respect to sale Rs 429.93 crore last year in the same period,” Saxena said.
Modi was not espousing the cause of khadi for the first time on Sunday through his radio programme ‘Mann ki Baat’.
last month, he had said khadi is not just a cloth but a “movement” that should be taken forward as a campaign and that he has observed a surge in the people’s interest towards khadi, which has led to a rise in the employment among poor people.
Public Sector Units (PSUs) like Mangalore Refinery, GAIl and ONGC have gifted khadi coupons to its employees. Not only that, other orders for coupons have been also received from some corporate players, including REC, Raymond and Hotel Janpath, added Saxena.