UDHAMPUR, February 11 : Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that Khadi is fast emerging as a new and lucrative StartUp avenue.Dr Jitendra Singh gave full credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for having popularised Khadi across the world with the mantra of “Khadi for Nation, Khadi for Fashion and Khadi for Transformation”. Today, Khadi garments and outfits have assumed the status of designer items and elite wear, he added.The Minister was addressing a North Zone level program organised by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) here today, wherein subsidy margin amount of more than Rs.100 Crore was distributed online to beneficiaries and entrepreneurs spread across the North Indian States and UTs of J&K, Ladakh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan. The programme was organised under the supervision of Chairman KVIC Manoj Kumar who mentioned recent decision to increase the wages from Rs.7.50 per hank to Rs.10 per hank, which will lead to increase of the monthly income of artisans by around 33% and 10 % increase in the wages of weavers.Dr Jitendra Singh expressed disappointment that while the StartUp movement had picked up in other parts of the country, it was yet to pick up in this region. He said, the worth of Khadi for entrepreneurship and industry is being realised more and more. He recalled that Prime Minister through his radio broadcast “Mann Ki Baat” had appealed on several occasions to buy khadi, as a result of which now there has been a record sale of Khadi products and also manifold increase in export of Khadi.
