Sonia Gandhi criticised the NDA for replacing the handwoven Khadi flag with a machine-woven polyester fabric, ignoring the handloom sector. Indian National Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi criticised the switch from handwoven Khadi flag to machine-woven polyester fabric during Independence Day celebrations. She accused the BJP-led NDA government since 2014 of ignoring the handloom sector and favouring big corporates, encouraging monopoly.
She highlighted the historical importance of khadi, the handspun fabric that Mahatma Gandhi valued during the independence movement, and criticised the central government’s heavy use of machine-made polyester flags in the recent Independence Day celebrations.
In an article published in an English language newspaper, she appealed for the return of Khadi as the fabric exclusively for the national flag. Khadi is a symbol of national pride and a testament to our rice history and economic vitality, she said.
Sonia Gandhi argued that Khadi was not just a symbol of the past but also of India’s modernity and economic vitality.
She expressed concern about the increasing use of machine-made polyester flags made from raw materials imported from China and other countries.
Slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she wrote: “His moral ambivalence in paying respect to the national flag and yet pledging allegiance to organisations that have no regard for it is one thing.”
She pointed out that India’s Flag Act states that the national flag must be made of “handspun and handwoven woolen, cotton and silk khadi bunting”.
However, on the 75th anniversary of India’s independence in 2022, the central government has decided to amend the National Flag Act to include “polyester bunting”. Polyester flags are exempt from GST and will be at par with the khadi flag, she pointed out.
The central government’s measures have led to the structural dismantling of India’s MSMEs, including the handloom industry. “Demonetisation, GST and the unplanned Covid-19 lockdown have led to thousands of handloom workers quitting their jobs,” she lamented.
She highlighted the plight of the Karnataka Khadi Gramodiyoga Samyukta Samhaga in Hubballi district, the only flag-making factory accredited by the Indian Standards Institute, whose workers have been forced to go on an indefinite strike to draw attention to what she called the “state-sponsored murder of India’s khadi industry”.
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