New Delhi, December 31, 2020.

Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) lent special focus on Khadi artisans in Jammu & Kashmir during the Covid-19 period. While KVIC worked tirelessly for creating sustainable employment across the country, it disbursed Rs 29.65 crore to Khadi Institutions in the hilly terrains of J&K alone, which has been the focus area of the Central Government.

This amount has been disbursed from May 2020 to September 2020 to 84 Khadi institutions in J&K benefitting 10,800 Khadi artisans associated with these institutions. The financial assistance has been given under Modified Marketing Development Assistance (MMDA) scheme of KVIC which is directly linked with the production activities. Under this scheme, money is directly transferred into the bank accounts of artisans through DBT.

During the Covid-19 lockdown period, a special drive was also launched by KVIC to settle 951 old MMDA claims of J&K Khadi institutions that were related to 2016-17 to 2018-19, pending due to various technical reasons.

KVIC Chairman Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena said through this special drive, the payment of Rs 29.65 crore released to 84 Khadi institutions has directly benefited 10,800 artisan families in J&K which goes on to strengthen the Prime Minister’s dream of making every weaker section “Aatmanirbhar”.

“Apart from ensuring financial assistance through MMDA Scheme to Khadi Institutions and artisans, KVIC also roped in thousands of women artisans working in self-help groups in Jammu, Udhampur, Pulwama, Kupwara and Anantnag in stitching of Khadi face masks. Almost 7 lakh Khadi face masks were stitched by these women artisans and supplied to the J&K Government,” Saxena said.

At present, 103 Khadi Institutions are working in J&K. Of these, 12 are primarily dealing in production of Kashmir’s globally acclaimed Pashmina Shawls. Over 60% of these shawls are produced in South Kashmir region, i.e. Anantnag, Bandipora, Pulwama and Kulgam. The products made in J&K have found a large number of consumers in states like Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand. These products are being sold through various Khadi India Sale outlets and through KVIC e-portal.