In line with the suggestions of Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Shri Nitin Gadkari on December 17, 2019 while launching sale of ‘Khadi Rumal’ being stitched by militancy affected women of Jammu and Kashmir (at Nagrota near Jammu), Chairman KVIC, Shri VK Saxena has approved the enhancement of wages from Rs. 2 to Rs. 3 per piece w.e.f. 1st Jan 2020.
Quite noticeably, each women artisan at Nagrota used to earn around Rs. 170 – Rs. 200 stitching 85-90 Khadi Rumals on an average working 4 hours per day. Now with revised wages, each woman will earn around Rs. 250 – Rs. 300 per day, thus increasing their income by around 50%. Since the launch on 17th December 2019, approximately 30,000 Khadi Rumals have been sold by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC). Nagrota a centre has been established by KVIC to provide employment to local women.
Highlighting this as a major step towards nation building, Chairman KVIC, Shri VK Saxena said, “Since the inception of this training center, the intention of KVIC has been to promote ‘Khadi Rumal’ and contribute meaningfully to the families of militancy affected areas of J&K. Currently the stitching center has a production capacity of 10,000 ‘Khadi Rumals’ per day stitched by 130 women artisans.”
Speaking about the initiative, Shri VK Saxena said, “‘Khadi Rumal’ is a symbol of trust that the women in militancy affected areas residing in Nagrota, have on the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Modi, who is working towards ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’. Currently we have been able to employ 130 women and as the sale of Khadi Rumal increases, we plan to reach out and empower 4000 women of this area.”
