Bangalore: Khadi spinning should become part of school curriculum if the spirit of the national fabric had to reach every citizen, Union Minister for Small Scale Industries and Agro and Rural Industries Mahavir Prasad said here on Saturday.

Inaugurating the month-long Khadi Gramodyog exhibition at Malleswaram grounds, the Minister listed out the initiatives of the United Progressive Alliance Government to revive khadi.

The Centre was even willing to provide collateral security for khadi workers who wanted loans from banks, he said.

List of problems

The Minister was responding to the list of problems put forth by Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council and former Minister H.K. Patil on the problems faced by the khadi industry.

Mr. Patil said the Government was yet to compensate the khadi industry for huge sums of rebate that they give to the customers.

No budget allocation

The problem was that neither the Centre nor the State governments made any specific budget allocation for the khadi industry.

Employment generation through khadi had gone down consistently and wages of khadi workers had not been revised for years, he pointed out.

The government should also make it mandatory for at least some departments to buy khadi to help the industry, he added.

Khadi and Village Industries Commission chairperson Kumudben Joshi said that steps had been taken to stop the flooding of spurious khadi in the market.

Efforts were being made to provide assistance to khadi cooperatives during the production process itself, she added.

Market-driven

The khadi industry, she said, had the strength to survive even in a market-driven economy.

She admitted, though, that there had been an alarming decline in the number of people involved in khadi production over the years.

The exhibition will be on till February 26 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.

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