Khadi gets a helping hand in marketing

The common man’s fabric for years, khadi, is in the process of a facelift. The hand-woven yarn is being marketed so that it can take on the other supposedly more trendy and contemporary fabrics in the space.

In this connection, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) is sponsoring a event by the Gandhi Ashram, Sitapur, to ensure attractive returns and proper marketing to the artisans engaged in the Khadi and Village Industries sector.

About 65 institutions financed by KVIC and Khadi and Village Industries Board (KVIB) are showcasing khadi goods, exclusive variety of silk and other dress material from Bengal, woollen from Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir, quality leather goods, food products, soaps, detergents, agarbattis etc. for the sale. About 107 stalls have been set up.

 

Anurup Ranjan, a designer, said: “We want value addition and enhancement of the khadi sector as a whole. To ensure this, concrete steps need to be taken right from the inception of weaving a yarn till the final product comes out.”

Ranjan added: “Khadi provides immense potential which is still untapped. It has an edge over other fabrics as it is hand-woven. The greatest challenge is to make it suit contemporary market. For this, we are incorporating traditional arts like chikan kari, aari work and daraaz work with our designs to give it attractive look.”

National Institute of Fashion technology (NIFT) pass-out Ranjan, is associated with the design development project of khadi under the Scheme of Funds for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI).

The project is taking care of the various Gandhi ashrams covering areas of Sultanpur, Sitapur, Kanpur and Rae Bareily.

Not only khadi, other village-based industries are also enthusiastic about the sales of their products.

“With a growing trend that is sending people back to everything natural; be it in terms of food products, lifestyle and even fabric, village industries have fair chance of being hit among masses,” said Atul Verma, sales manager Meghdoot Gramodyog Sewa Sansthan (MGSS), a Lucknow-based company engaged in the manufacturing of ayurvedic and herbal products. The company has re-launched some of its products including chaywanprash, herbal face packs, soaps and shampoo in order to catch customers’ fancy.

“Our new packaging is attracting customers a lot. Small poly packs with low costs are easily affordable by people,” he added.

He further shows glycerin soaps and face packs at his stall under the brand name of khadi. “This is a good opportunity to popularise khadi products among the people. We intend to do business over Rs 50 lakh for the current event,” RS Pandey, state director, KVIC said.

“Keeping pace with the times, we are changing our traditional outlook and producing more goods as per the consumers needs. Also to attain global competitiveness, the KVIC is increasing its focus on issues like technology up gradation, responsive marketing facilities and supportive infrastructure,” he added.

JS Mishra, CEO, KVIC, who was in Lucknow to inaugurate the event, said: “Our focus for the future is to ensure mandatory wages for the weavers.”