Gram Vikas Sangh, an industry body of khadi weavers that organizes Khadi Gram Udyog Vikas exhibitions, has appealed to Prime Minister Modi extend the deadline to attain mandatory 'Khadi mark' certificate for weavers so that they can participate in exhibitions. Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has made it mandatory for weavers and exhibitors to get 'Khadi mark' on their products from Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and the last date for the same was December 31, 2014.
'Khadi mark' has been introduced by MSME, which ensures purity and genuineness of hand woven textiles, such as cotton, wool and silk. However, since getting the khadi mark is a lengthy process, almost 90 weavers despite applying for the khadi mark are not participating in the ongoing exhibition because of the said rule. So the industry body has written to Modi, asking him to extend the deadline till March 31, 2015.
Sale of khadi, a hand-woven cloth, registered a six per cent growth in 2013-14 across the country, while the gain in production during this period was by about 6.45 per cent. The success of this eco-friendly fabric has been attributed to khadi’s introduction in the field of fashion and rise in demand for khadi ensembles among the youth.
www.kvic.org.in
