Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the government wants to create a network of Khadi Gramudyog across villages in the country to provide more job opportunities through the sector. PM Modi expressed happiness saying the government’s efforts to promote khadi were bearing fruit as various state-owned institutions were using products made from the fabric.

Pointing out that khadi, which played an important role in the freedom struggle, has become a fashion statement, he said arrangements were being made to ensure that workers in the sector can easily avail benefits of government schemes like Atal Pension Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana. PM Modi also lauded the efforts being made to produce khadi using Solar Charkha and Solar Loom, noting that these will double income of the weavers and increase production.

 Did You Know??? 

• Khadi is a term for handspun and hand-woven cloth from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan primarily made out of cotton.
• In India, Khadi is not just a cloth, it is a whole movement started by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
• The Khadi movement promoted an ideology, an idea that Indians could be self-reliant on cotton and be free from the high priced goods and clothes which the British were selling to them.
• The freedom struggle revolved around the use of khādī fabrics and the dumping of foreign-made clothes.