UP Govt. Decides to Give Solar Charkhas, Khadi Benefits to Weavers

Although the solar charkhas are used in other states as well but the cloth that is produced from these charkhas is not considered as khadi. This deprives the weavers of government benefits under khadi promotion.

In order to double their income and improve the efficiency of yarn spinners of UP, the state government is planning to give away 400 solar-powered charkhas to registered yarn spinners. UP will also become the first state to recognize cloth woven on solar charkhas as khadi.

Although the solar charkhas are used in other states as well, the cloth that is produced from these charkhas is not considered as khadi. This deprives the weavers of government benefits under khadi promotion.

Minister for khadi, Satyadev Pachauri, said that the scheme may be rolled out from October 2. “There are 300 committees registered with Khadi and Village Industries Board. We will provide charkhas to them for spinners registered with them. If they are earning Rs 3,000 right now, they will start earning Rs 8,000,” he said.

“At some point, when we are able to supply solar charkhas to everyone, we will also ensure that only those with solar charkhas will be eligible for concessions and subsidies,” he said.

The Solar Charkha scheme was launched in July by the President Ram Nath Kovind in which the government will disburse a subsidy of Rs 550 crore to thousands of artisans across the country’s rural areas.

Under this scheme, the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) will cover 50 clusters and each cluster will employ 400 to 2,000 artisans.