Khadi attracts customers wholesale

Board delighted as response to fest in Chikkaballapur exceeds expectations

The unexpected success of the recent Khadi Utsav has prompted the Karnataka State Khadi Board to think of similar sales fests in other districts.

It is also planning another round of sale in Chikkaballapur district itself. The State government had expected business up to Rs 10 lakh. The Board, however succeeded in selling items worth up to Rs 55 lakh.

According to the officers of the District Khadi Rural Employment Board, more than 20,000 customers visited the fest organised at the Vokkaligara Bhavan in the city between December 23 and January 1. Sixty per cent of them were women.

More fests
The excellent response by the local residents to the Utsav is getting the Board officers to ponder over the idea of repeating the venture at not just district-level but also taluk-level.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Board officer Mani said, “We had wondered how good the business would be, Chikkaballapur being a small city. We had even feared the people of the area would not be interested at all. As if dismissing our fears, however, the business gave us about Rs 2.42 lakh merely hours after the fest began. The figures at the end of the Khadi Utsav has all of us pleasantly surprised. The local people seem be really great khadi-lovers.”

Reacting to the response by the public, the stall owners had requested that the fest be extended by another 10 days. “But we could not do so due to time constraint,” he explained. “However, the Board has considered Chikkaballapur district to be a major khadi market. We hope to organise such fests once or twice year at least.”

Lingaraju, president of the Khadi Rural Employees' Union, L Gopalakrishna Gowda, general secretary of the Karnataka Panchayat Parishat and Chikkamadegowda, treasurer, had participated in the valedictory programme of the Utsav. Stall owners at the Utsav were handed certificates.