Khadi and khadi products might have been promoted rigorously by the government with a new mascot and ingestion of funds but the fine print shows otherwise.
Parliament’s 284th report on the industry has come down heavily on the government’s efforts at bringing transparency in the system.
For instance, the committee has questioned who the vendors and suppliers of khadi products really are, whether they are artisans or bulk commercial suppliers.The report says that “as KVIC does not produce khadi itself, the Committee wonders how the khadi vendors/suppliers are selected. The Committee recommends that the KVIC should formulate a transparent method of devolving bulk orders to khadi institutions in consultation with such institutions.”
The report tabled in both Houses of Parliament deals with the Action Taken on the 280th report of the Committee on Demand for Grants (2017-18) pertaining to the MSME sector.
The committee of parliamentarians has suggested that the KVIC should now come up with a more transparent mechanism for this.
That’s not all. The committee pointed out that even though KVIC can export khadi products by itself, it is outsourcing the same. “Most of the export is done by merchant exporters despite KVIC having the status of a deemed Export Promotion Council (EPC),” the report says. The ministry admitted that KVIC does not export khadi products. Interestingly, it produces the goods while merchants (and therefore private exporters) buy and then export them.
As far as promoting khadi abroad is concerned, the committee pointed out that “so far khadi export is restricted to a few developed markets like US, Europe, Australia and Japan”. In fact the EPC status of the board has all but become defunct, the committee pointed out. The committee says “KVIC could not avail the benefits of the market access initiatives of Department of Commerce under which each exporter is entitled to certain financial benefits.”
With question marks on who actually produces khadi products that KVIC buys, who exports products that KVIC makes and whether khadi is actually being promoted abroad, parliamentarians are questioning whether khadi is becoming a private enterprise at government cost.
In fact, the CAG has now begun an audit of KVIC’s performance. The committee has also recommended that khadi workers should be entitled to minimum wages under MNREGA. “If wages are to be determined on piece rate basis, then steps must be taken to improve productivity of artisans without drudgery,” the report says.
intoday.in
