Every thread of Khadi that Mahatma Gandhi drew on the spinning wheel was an embodiment of God to him but 87 years after Mahatma expressed his love for the thread in the Young India, Khadi appears to be the God in distress begging for people’s attention. The National Khadi and Saras Festival being organized at Ranchi highlights the decline of Khadi and people’s distastes of the garment that was once the symbol of swadeshi.
Empty stalls of Khadi with people strolling in the aisle occasionally peeping in a shop to know the hand made product on sale only to get discouraged by the price mentioned for the product in the end is the story of Khadi since the festival began. Most of the stalls set up by affiliate associations of various state Khadi board failed to draw crowd and put up encouraging sales figures.
“Sale is down by 50 per cent compared to last mela. People will wear jackets worth Rs3,000 thousand however they will not prefer buy a better quality at Rs2,000,” said R K Verma, a member of Gopalganj Zila Khadi Gramodyog Sangh.
Ironically, the Khadi stalls have lost in terms of sales figures to Saras and stalls set up for products manufactured under Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) schemes. While Khadi products worth Rs70 lakh was sold till January 3, saras products worth Rs55 lakh and objects manufactured under PMEGP worth Rs60 were sold till the date. Notably, around 100 stalls for Khadi were set up at the festival.
Significantly, people visiting the Khadi mela were more interested in home décor and aesthetic products.
While the stalls of Khadi clothes were empty, stalls selling idols and handlooms were overcrowded with visitors.
The Khadi mela brought the brute reality of people’s preference for modern clothes than Khadi to the fore.
The fabric that is considered more comfortable than western clothes has failed to woo younger generation which prefers a blend of style and quality incidentally missing in Khadi clothes.
The image of Khadi as something suitable for old people has kept the younger generation away from it.
“I can wear a jacket as long as I want but it is not possible with Khadi. It needs more care than any other fabric. Moreover there is something style quotient which doesn’t get better by wearing Khadi clothes,” Anshu Shekhar, a 17 year old visitor.
Interestingly, Khadi as an industry which was put in place for fulfilling Mahatma Gandhi’s dreams of providing rural masses a means for sustenance failed in meeting the objective. The artisans employed for spinning the wheel are paid a meager wage of Rs35 per day, lower than the minimum wage for a MNREGA worker, and is the reason for migration of labourers from Khadi to other avenues.
“It (wage) is too low to maintain a family. As a consequence of low wage people do not want to spend their energy in this business. They are moving towards other avenues which has created a dearth of labour in this sector. These things ultimately harm the sector,” maintained A K Singh, the representative of Jan Kalyan Khadi Gramodyog Parishad, Varanasi.