When the tricolour flutters atop households on August 15, marking the 75 th year of India’s independence, the residents of Garag village in Dharwad taluk will not join the celebrations. They are upset with the decision to allow flags of polyester and mill cloth, which has consequently forced the Garag khadi unit, synonymous with the tricolour, to suspend production.
Every year when the khadi tricolour fluttered atop high masts on independence day, the residents of Garag village felt proud as it was the cloth manufactured in their village that had gone into the making of the national flag. This year, however, even the ready flag cloth in the Khadi unit has not been procured by the KVIC for flag production.
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The village residents have already submitted in writing their decision to not hoist flag of any cloth to express their displeasure over amendment to the flag code.
“This decision was taken in consultation with the elders of the village and it has already been communicated to authorities. We consider allowing any material other than Khadi a disgrace to the national flag itself,” said Kiran Bulbule, clarifying that they were not against Har Ghar Tiranga campaign but against using non-khadi flags.
“When the campaign was announced, we felt very happy as earlier we never had the opportunity to hoist tricolour atop our homes. But it was short-lived when we learnt that our Khadi unit has no role in it since flags of other materials had been allowed,” Laxman Yaligar, a young lecturer, told The Hindu.
Social workers Viresh Jogi and Manjunath Dodmani said, “When one thinks of national flag, one automatically remembers Garag. But when the very existence of the khadi unit which weaves the cloth for the flag is being wiped out, how can we celebrate?”
Forced to shut down
The sound of handlooms from Dharwad taluk’s Garag Kshetriya Seva Sangha, located a few hundred meters from the Gandhi statue in the village, can no longer be heard because they stopped functioning in December, 2021. The reason being want of cotton sliver (Hanji in Kannada).
Last year, after its sliver unit in Chitradurga was gutted in a fire accident, KVIC stopped supply of sliver to Khadi units and later came up with the proposal of supplying sliver from Kerala unit at a cost of ₹416 per kilo excluding transport cost, which is almost double the earlier price (₹296/kg).
“We could not afford to procure sliver at such a high cost and asked the KVIC for permission to allow us to procure cotton and get sliver at a regional level. We are yet to receive it,” said M.S. Hiremath, Secretary of the Sangha.
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Thus, the production of high-quality khadi cloth, which had fetched the Sangha the opportunity to produce flag cloth way back in 1974, came to a standstill last December. “In fact, following a direction from the KVIC chairman, we had got 15,000 metres of cloth woven by December 2021 for the Amrit Mahotsav celebration. However, even that cloth has not been procured from us yet,” said Ishwarappa Itagi, Manager of the Sangha.
Another schocking development for the Sangha is that the Khadi Dyers and Printers in Mumbai (reportedly not a khadi production unit), where the Sangha got the flags stitched, has now been permitted by the KVIC to manufacture flags of any cloth.
278 families impacted
As many as 278 families, spread over the villages of Garag, Tadakodu, Kotabagi, Madanbhavi and Nichhanaki, are dependent on the Khadi Seva Sangha and have all been pushed to the streets after the production stopped in 2021. Even the 16 khadi ‘karyakartas’ (activists) who take care of the administration of the Sangha have not received their wages since the last four months.
Every year, the Garag Sangha woud do a business of ₹1 crore through the national flag alone on a no-profit no-loss basis. This year, however, they have only made ₹12 lakh so far, thanks to the amendment to the flag code and related developments.
“It pains us to see the struggle of khadi workers, that too during Amrit Mahotsav,” said Mr. Bulbule.
