The 300 women working in the Solar Charkha cluster in Amravati had a new reason to cheer on October 2 this year. On the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the yarn they spin on their solar charkhas will find its way to customers through its first store in Nagpur, to be named ‘Kutir’. The store will open in this month.
Charkha, which has long been associated with Mahatma Gandhi’s khadi movement, was given a new ‘spin’ when solar-powered charkhas were introduced in the country a few years back. The four-year-old facility at Amravati district, which has 21 production units in 11 talukas, is managed under the Maharashtra State Khadi and Village Industries Board (MSKVIB).
These employed women are part of a Self-Help Group called Kasturba Solar Khadi Mahila Samiti which is registered under MSKVIB.
Kutir, the first of its kind store in the State, will sell khadi yardage, as well as garments like kurtas, shirts, dress material, sarees and fabric paintings, made from the yarn spun on these solar charkhas.
On an average, a solar charkha spins twice the quantity of yarn that a hand-operated amber charkha produces, that too with just a fraction of physical effort.
“This was the first project of solar charkha in India and the only khadi production unit of the board. However in 2018, the solar charkha mission was also started by Central projects. Initially it was very challenging to convince women. We started with 130 women and four years later 300 women are part of it and a lot of them are willing to work in khadi,” said Pradeep Chechare, Resource Officer (Khadi), MSKVIB, Amravati.
Women can easily work from home allowing them to earn and take care of their children as well. They work for eight hours in a day and produce almost two kg yarn in a day.
“Branding of their products is done under ‘Greenfab’ and we have been sending it to exhibitions in Maharashtra. We have also tied up with Nidhi Gandhi, a fashion designer and finally are opening our first store ‘Kutir’ in Nagpur and planning another one in Amravati,” said Pranita Kidely, Secretary of Kasturba Solar Khadi Mahila Samiti.
Chechare said that with solar charkhas, a lot of manual work is reduced. “One person is still needed to manage the thread constantly but with these solar charkhas, it is easier for one woman to manage two charkhas at a time.”
Common Facility Centre
The high cost of production of khadi products is a big challenge and to address that, a common facility centre will start in November in MIDC Amravati. Chechare said, “A lot of pre-weaving and post-weaving activities such as dying, bleaching, printing were outsourced. This increased the cost of production at a time when the market was not that developed. This made it difficult to get a good price for these products.”
Yarn was sent to other centres to be made into fabric, which again was sent back to Amravati for garmenting. With a common facility centre, this step can be reduced.
Marketing, a big challenge
Sloppy marketing of khadi products has always been a challenge in the age of cheap machine-made clothes. “These khadi products are original and handmade, so the price is high while there are lot of products in the name of khadi available at a competitive price. As a result, handmade products do not get many takers,” said Kidely.
She said, “It is important to create awareness among people and especially youth about khadi products. People should understand the importance of khadi products and how it provides a livelihood to women. Once the awareness about the product is created, there will be takers.”
Gandhi and khadi
Khadi movement started by Mahatma Gandhi played a very important role in the Swadeshi Movement and aimed at boycotting foreign clothes. Gandhi not only boycotted the British products but also promoted the spinning of khadi for rural self employment and self-reliance in 1920’s.