The hopes of financial revival for India’s only Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)-certified national flag manufacturing unit at Bengeri in Hubballi seem almost dashed.
This is because the union government hasn’t yet made up its mind on placing the ‘promised’ order for three crore units of the Tricolour for the platinum jubilee (75 years) celebrations of India’s independence.
During a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently, it was decided to celebrate the platinum jubilee in a grand manner by hoisting the national flag on all government buildings and also encourage private institutions and individuals to hoist the flag on their premises.
A recent visit by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena and CEO Preeta Verma to Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangh (KKGSS), Bengeri, had kindled hope among more than 400 employees of the Sangh for better times, as Saxena proposed purchasing more than three crore units of the flag for the year-long celebrations from August 2021.
Had the proposal materialised, it would not only have provided jobs to more than 2.5 lakh rural weavers and cotton growers, but also improved the financial condition of KKGSS. Its employees haven’t received salary for the last two months.
“Due to lockdown and subdued celebrations of national festivals last year, we could not sell flags worth Rs 1.26 crore. Covid-19 has adversely impacted our demand, manufacture and supply chain,” said KKGSS secretary Shivananda Mathapati.
He said raw material suppliers had not yet been paid, while stocks lie uncleared.
However, highly placed sources at KVIC, Mumbai, told DH that such a huge order is unlikely to be placed as KKGSS does not have required equipment and manpower.
“It is also not feasible to set up additional units, as such huge orders will be placed only this year,” the sources said.
“The recent visit by KVIC members to the Hubballi unit was not to make any proposal, but to take stock of the unit’s capacity to manufacture flags,” they said.
On an average, the Sangh produces 30,000 units per year (worth Rs 3.5 crore) of national flag of different sizes, including the one that the prime minister hoists at the Red Fort in New Delhi on Independence Day.
Mathapati said with the present infrastructure and after training additional hands, KKGSS can produce three lakh units of flags this year.
Along with other khadi manufacturing units across India, the task of manufacturing three crore flags is not impossible, he said.
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