KHADI DARSHAN Exhibition till March 31

Chandigarh, March 29, 2013: Under marketing promotion activities for the clusters, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is organising the current week as “Khadi Darshan Week”, which will continue till March 31. The traditional products on display at Gram Shilpa Khadi Showroom, SCO 192-93 Sector 17-C are produced by artisans of the 7 rural clusters in Haryana and Punjab. A buyer-Seller meet will be held on March 30 and an exhibition of the products will also be held at Sukhna Lake on March 31.

This was announced here today. Karnail Singh, Director, KVIC (Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana) said, “Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) play an important role in the industrial development. This sector has contributed 40% to its industrial output and 35% of direct exports with significant share of employment generation, close to 1.3 crore people. India has a rich tradition in traditional industries. The eco-friendly products of traditional industries not only have great potential for growth in production and export, but can also lead to widespread generation of employment opportunities in the rural areas of the country.” 

With a view to making the traditional industries more productive and competitive and facilitating their sustainable development, the Central Government announced the setting up of a fund for regeneration of traditional industries with an initial allocation of Rs 100 crores. Pursuant to this announcement, a Central Sector Scheme titled “Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries” (SFURTI) has been drawn up and approved at a total cost of Rs. 97.25 crore. The Scheme is implemented by the Ministry of MSME in collaboration with state governments, their departments and NGOs, etc.

Paramjit Singh, Principal Consultant, Regional Centre for Entrepreneurship (RCED) said, “For Punjab and Haryana, 7 rural clusters were implemented through KVIC, which include the Handmade paper, Radour (Yamunanagar); Wooden beads, Gurayra (Bhiwani); Woolen Khadi, Kurukshetra; Desi Punjab Jutti, Rampura (Fazilka); Phulkari, Rajpura (Patiala); Wooden Handicrafts, Hoshiarpur and Woolen Khadi, Amritsar.” 

4,465 artisans are taking benefit under this programme. Their production has increased by 50% and wages by 40% with the help of some interventions such as the Capacity Building through training, Replacement of Equipment, Setting up of Common Facility Centre, and Market Promotion through participation in exhibition, buyer-seller meets.

KVIC has 116 Khadi institutions in Punjab and Haryana which provide employment to 43,520 persons. With a total investment of Rs 9,857.86 lakh, these institutions are producing products worth Rs 8,270.69 lakh and the sales turnover is Rs 11,042.89 lakh.  KVIC has 296 marketing outlets in both the states.

A K Garg, Assistant Director, KVIC and Brij Sharma, Chairman, Khadi Ashram were also present at the press conference.