The khadi and village industries, which faced the task of clearing nearly Rs 300 crore worth products remained unsold last year, thanks to Covid, are worried that the uncertainty caused by the third wave of pandemic may lay waste their efforts at recovery.
In Feburary, the Karnataka State Khadi and Village Industries Board said that products worth Rs 280 crore had remain unsold, due to the pandemic and the reduced sales. Since then, efforts have been made to boost sales through local fares and exhibitions.
However, officials at district-level said the damage caused to the sector will take longer to recover. “It’s a complex problem involving weavers, producers and marketing societies. What we have seen is that those manufacturing units well-connected with markets have recovered. However, that is not the case in many of the districts,” sources in the Board said.
An official said that in districts like Chitradurga, Davangere, Raichur, societies have seen their revenue go down by 30% to 50%. “For such districts, the annual Khadi Mela in Bengaluru had been a major booster for business. In some districts, nearly 50% of the annual sales took place within the first two weeks of the annual Khadi Utsav held in Bengaluru that has not been held since January 2019,” an official
said.
In Davangere, for example, the revenue has come down by 30% compared to the 2019 figures. “The spending power of the people has definitely come down. At Khadi bhandars, the footfall is negligible. Almost all of our sales can be attributed to the exhibitions and melas held in different districts. Chamarajanagar district doesn’t have khadi bhandar to sell the products made by local artisans,” an official said.
Board Chairman Krishnappa Gowda N R acknowledged the problem. “Khadi and village industries were affected just like other sectors. The revival was slow. However, we have taken up several initiatives since October 2 to boost sales. We also have plans to set up plazas or upgrade the existing ones within the districts to make Khadi popular at local level,” he said.
He said several works of the Board has been pending for decades. “We need to secure the CA sites and other properties of the Board in all the districts. These can be utilised to build office and shops or large exhibition halls in some districts. A proposal will be made to the government in this regard soon,” he said.
Santosh Koulagi of the Janapda Seva Trust said the khadi industry in Karnataka has suffered due to lack of quality. “Over the last few decades, there is too much emphasis on marketing in the hope that it will create employment. There is a large-scale erosion of skills as well as the quality of the manufacturing. The Khadi Commission has reduced the sector into Khadi mark, which is being misused by large textile mills that have nothing to do with khadi,” he said.
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