BENGALURU: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai inaugurated the ‘Khadi Utsav-2023’ in the city on Thursday. Speaking at the event, Bommai said that after agriculture, textile sector employees the maximum number of people in India, especially rural areas, and hence more efforts are being put in to create more jobs and business opportunities in the khadi industry.
Bommai said that the upcoming state budget will give more emphasis and financial assistance to khadi and village industries. Those working in the khadi and handloom sector are technologically challenged and hence, steps will be taken to educate them on how to imbibe technology in the production and retail stage as well, Bommai said.
The authorities concerned must take appropriate steps in educating people to sell their products on e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart, he added. The government has also taken steps to empower women in the production sector by providing them incentives of up to Rs 5 lakh, he added. Bommai asserted that the working class population will be given priority in the budget.
He further added that necessary steps will also be taken to enhance the financial strength of the Khadi Gramodyog Institute. Bommai remembered Mahatma Gandhi and said he gave importance to khadi. The khadi industry should not be made a large-scale manufacturing unit but continue to be a production by the masses to ensure maximum people are provided employment in India, he said. The utsav is organised by the Karnataka State Khadi and Village Industries Board.