Why in news?
Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), an autonomous body under Ministry of MSME, in collaboration with its Khadi Institutions (KIs) in Tamil Nadu has discharged its responsibility once again by purchasing cocoons from cocoon farmers.
The main objectives of KVIC was to help the cocoon farmers struggling to sell their crop due to lock down pandemic outbreak and secondly to ensure continuous supply of Cocoons to the khadi institutions involved in Silk production.
KVIC
- The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is a statutory body formed in April 1957 by the Government of India, under ‘Khadi and Village Industries Commission Act of 1956’.
- It is an apex organisation under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, with regard to khadi and village industries within India
- Aim of KVIC is: plan, promote, facilitate, organise and assist in the establishment and development of khadi and village industries in the rural areas in coordination with other agencies engaged in rural development wherever necessary.
What is Khadi?
- Khadi, (pronounced Khādī) refers to hand-spun and hand-woven cloth. The raw materials may be cotton, silk, or wool, which are spun into threads on a charkha (a traditional spinning implement).
- Khadi was launched in 1920 as a political weapon in the Swadeshi movement of Mahatma Gandhi.
- Khadi is sourced from different parts of India, depending upon its raw materials – While the silk variety is sourced from West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and North Eastern states, the cotton variety comes from Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.
- Khadi poly is spun in Gujarat and Rajasthan while Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Karnataka are known for the woollen variety.
Relevance of Khadi and Village Industries
- Any Industry that is located within a rural area, where the Fixed Capital Investment per Artisan (weaver) does not exceed Rupees One Lakh is a Village Industry.
- The common characteristic found in both – Khadi and Village Industries is that they are labour intensive in nature. In the wake of industrialisation, and the mechanisation of almost all processes, Khadi and Village industries are suited like no other to a labour surplus country like India.
- Another advantage of Khadi and Village Industries is that they require little or no capital to set up, thereby making them an economically viable option for the rural poor. This is an important point with reference to India in view of its stark income, regional and rural/urban inequalities.
Objectives and Functions of KVIC
- The Social Objective – Providing employment in rural areas
- The Economic Objective – Providing saleable articles
- The Wider Objective – Creating self-reliance amongst people and building up a strong rural community spirit.
The KVIC is authorized to establish and maintain separate organisations for the purpose of carrying out any or all of the above matters besides carrying out any other matter incidental to its activities.
The KVIC may also undertake directly or through other agencies studies concerning the problems of Khadi and/or village industries besides research or establishing pilot projects for the development of Khadi and village industries.
