'Khadi has unique capability to create employment': Mukherjee

President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said that Khadi has the unique capability to create employment at the dwelling place of artisans with very low capital requirement.

President Mukherjee, who launched the Khadi Mark today at a function at Vigyan Bhavan, said that Khadi has, over the years, kindled hope for over a million artisan families to rise above deprivation and backwardness, and added that it remained an important vehicle for the development of rural India.

He congratulated the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and the Khadi and Village Industries Commission for taking the key step to lend Khadi the unique identity it richly deserves.

He said that the Khadi Mark was a novel initiative, which would indicate the quality and genuineness of a Khadi product, and added that it would provide a distinct identity for positioning and brand building in the domestic and international textile markets.

President Mukherjee expressed confidence that the Khadi Mark would prove to be truly beneficial to the customers in buying genuine Khadi and to the producers in improving their living standards, and stated that the launch of the Khadi Mark would help to fully realize the growth potential of the Khadi sector.

Dignitaries present on the occasion were K.H. Muniyappa, Minister of State (I/C) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Madhav Lal, Secretary, MSME and Udai Pratap Singh, CEO, Khadi and Village Industries Commission.