BANGALORE: The Daasimayya National Awards for 2010-11 were given away on Saturday at Kannada Sahitya Parishat. The recipients were Rangappa Y Hoogar from Ron (Gadag), Khadi Nekara Sahakari Utpadaka Sangha from Dharwad and Harihara Charaka and Gramudyog Sahakara Sangha from Harihara, Davangere.
The awards, constituted by Desi Dharmadarshi Samsthe, are given to individuals and institutions who have excelled in promoting Khadi and the handloom industries.
“Contrary to popular belief, there is demand for Khadi. So much that the handloom industry is not able to meet the demand,” said Prasanna, executive administrator (dharmadarshi) of the Desi chain of Khadi stores . Blaming the government, he added that there were efforts to push the handloom industry to the sidelines. He added that consumers were being cheated in the name of Khadi as 70 per cent of the products were adulterated with the use of powerloom.
Speaking after giving away the awards, former Supreme Court Chief Justice M N Ventakachaliah opined that India would become a ‘client’ of the West if we continued to disrespect Khadi. He added, “It is just like how students are ignoring basic sciences for the sake of software professions.”