Master’s Thesis
I believe that where there is pure and active love for the poor there is God also. I see God in every thread that I draw on the spinning wheel. ‐M.K.Gandhi
Khadi’s disappearing act in Karnataka “Give me the cap,” said Deviyurappa to his wife as he went back into the house for the second time before leaving for work at 9:45 am. She smiled knowingly at him; a silent conversation passed between them and she handed over the Gandhi cap to him. “I tend to forget things these days,” he said referring to his Khadi cap. “My wife thinks it is funny.”Deviyurappa, 64, goes to work every day and runs his Khadi society. Khadi is a handspun and hand‐woven cloth, made of cotton, silk or wool. As he drove his monster of a jeep carefully to commute to his worksite, he chuckled to himself. “It’s a habit to go work this early,” he said. “Most of the people come in not earlier than 10.” Deviyurappa’s worksite is his Khadi society in Hosadurga taluk in Chitradurga. His society, called Sriranga Khadi Gramodyog Samithi is the only functioning unit in Hosadurga. About a decade ago, there were seven production units in the taluk.
Deviyurappa, in front of his Khadi unit in Hosadurga
Master’s Thesis
According to a paper by Ila Ved from Maniben Nanavati Women’s College, back in the nineteenth century, spinning was an important industry; it was an industry which brought employment to millions of women in villages. It cut across all religious sections of the society. Even Muslim women, who were forbidden to step outside the threshold of their houses and earned their part of livelihood spinning cotton yarn. Gandhi wished to bring back the spinning industry that had died out due to cheap foreign cloth and machine made Indian yarn. The extent of poverty in India became clear to him in 1916 when women in certain districts were unable to change their garments as they owned only a single set of clothes. In 1917, he appointed Gangaben Mujmuder, a widow, to find a spinning wheel, to get a handspun yarn instead of a one spun by a machine. His aim was to bridge the gap between the haves and have‐nots by giving economic security through spinning and weaving. After she successfully located a spinning wheel, the khadi industry was born. Two years later, her unit employed 2,000 women manufacturing the fabric. Eventually, she generated employment for thousands of women. Following this, Khadi became the symbol of self‐reliance amongst people and was instrumental building up a strong rural community spirit, according to the Khadi Central board. It was a unifying force the British had to reckon with. All sections of the society bought the cloth. Gandhi used the self‐sufficiency of Khadi industry and its independence from British fabric markets, as a symbol of Indian independence. More than 60 years later, Khadi still persists. It has found a place in the dictionary as well. But, more than 60 years later, the fervor with which the industry worked has disappeared in Karnataka, the place that weaves the national flag for the country. The very fabric of the industry in Karnataka is frayed and stripped threadbare. Deviyurappa’s worksite, located at about two kilometers from the town, showed no sign of Khadi spinners or weavers. Instead, tailors of a private garment factory occupied one of the two work rooms. All of the equipment was pushed to one side of the room. The second room lay empty, devoid of any spinning or weaving machines. The scene was radically different in 1992, when Deviyurappa set up his Khadi work shed. Deviyurappa said that the place was bustling with activity as there was ample raw material and funds to keep the society running. “I have machines which can easily employ 50 people. But not many people come for Khadi work,” he said.
Master’s Thesis
Private garment factory workers work in Deviyurappa’s Khadi worksite, with the Khadi machinery is pushed to the end of the room. In his production unit two handlooms are in repair. He started out with 25 spinning wheels and 10 handlooms and employed a total of 50 people back then. Now, with double the number of spinning wheels on his production site, barely 25 people turn up for work. Even with that, there is no regular attendance, he said. Hundreds of women in rural areas, whose economic dependence on their spouses become absolute after marriage, stand to gain from a robust Khadi industry. Each Khadi unit can employ 200 persons, 70 percent of them women, said Chakrapani, development officer of the Khadi Village Industries Board, Karnataka. This roughly translates into jobs for 1,000 women in the taluk, compared to the 20‐odd spinners in Deviyurappa’s worksite. Karnataka has 30,152 Khadi workers out of which 19,500 are women. These numbers are slowly dwindling. State Khadi officials in state confirmed that low pay and the hard work is driving them away from this age‐old profession. On an average, the spinners earn almost Rs.80 a day and the weavers Rs.150. Unlike in Kerala, Khadi workers in Karnataka do not get minimum wages. Spinning and weaving Khadi is considered social work, not a job.
Master’s T
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Master’s Thesis
Without being put to use for the last ten years, the handlooms have been gathering dust at Bagur Khadi unit
Setting up a Khadi society was an arduous task back then, according to Chakrapani. But nowadays, it is easy to set up a society. It takes less than a week to get registration done, he says. Ironically, no Khadi societies have come up since 1995, as KVIC has stopped all sanctions for Khadi units since then. Back in the 1990’s KVIC sanctioned Rs.5,00,000 to a society for buying its equipment and setting up a work shed. It gave an additional Rs.1,00,000 as working capital.
“We don’t have recovery officers. If any society defaults on its payment, ultimately we have to refer to the district collector for revenue recovery,” said Kiran.H.P, assistant development officer, Khadi and Village Industries Commission, Karnataka.
“That is a lengthy process. So the ministry (at the Centre) stopped that. It said you concentrate on programs. For finance recovery, banks are there,” he added.
Instead the ministry has come up with the Interest Eligibilty Scheme, under which banks grant loans at 4.5 percent interest rate to society owners. The rest of the interest is borne by KVIC.
Master’s T
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Master’s Thesis
In addition to the lack of state funding, Ravindra and Deviyurappa attribute the current state of Khadi units due to shortage of raw material as well. Parvathamma is a spinner at Honnenhalli Sri Maruti Khadi & Gramodyoga Sangha, another dusty old production unit. She has had no source of income for the past six months. She earns Rs 1,500 a month and her husband is a saree‐seller on wheels. He makes less than Rs.10,000 every year. She is the primary bread winner of the family and the lack of raw materials is making her life difficult.
Parvathamma shows how spinning is done on an 8‐spindle spinning machine
Master’s Thesis
The production unit of Sri Maruti Khadi & Gramodyoga Sangha, another perfunctory Khadi center where Parvathamma used to work
From crude cotton, silk or wool unorganized lumps are removed and the fibers are aligned in a parallel fashion. The resulting product, called sliver is what is taken as a raw material by Khadi units.
Chakrapani said that last April, the central sliver plant in Chitradurga did not procure cotton on time for processing; as a result none of the societies have been functioning to full capacity and the Khadi production was delayed by almost six months.
“If only there were raw material, there would not be much problem,” she sighed.
The societies have to procure cotton from the Cotton Corporation of India. “The problem was we called for tenders for the central sliver plant in Chitradurga. Only two parties applied when there should be at least three tender applications,” said Kiran.H.P, KVIC assistant development officer for Karnataka.
Master’s Thesis
The Khadi raw material‐sliver,popularly called ‘anji’ by the locals
”Lack of stock or lack of a particular variety of stock is generally the reason for delay,” he added.
KVIB recognizes this as a chronic problem and has requested the state government to sponsor a mini‐sliver plant to be allotted to each one of the Khadi institutions.
“Till now, the state government hasn’t helped even a little bit in Khadi. After our efforts since the last two years, Raju Gowda, minister of Small Scale Industries has agreed to consider it,” Chakrapani said.
To assess sustainability of Khadi in Karnataka, a government organization called the Technical Consultancy Services Organization of Karnataka (TECSOK), took up a study. The study recommends that the state should consider introducing a revolving fund of Rs.10 crore, so that the units are paid without delay. This would ensure continuous for the workers. “Now since there are artisans, the closed down societies have come forward asking for revival. We have sent a proposal to KVIC to replace old equipment with modern handlooms, supply working capital,” said Chakrapani. Additionally, KVIC grades institutions every year taking into account several factors like sales, production, payment of workers, and a total of 50 factors. The institutions are graded from A+ through D, D implying poor state of affairs. While Tamil Nadu has more than 70 percent of societies in the A+ category, Karnataka has just 12 percent.
Master’s T
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