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Sonia Gandhi criticizes NDA for replacing khadi flags with machine-made polyester fabric neglecting handloom sector, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi criticized the shift from the hand-woven khadi to machine-made polyester flags during the Independence Day celebrations. She criticized the BJP-led NDA government for neglecting the handloom sector and favoring the corporate giants and oligopolization since 2014.
She emphasized the historical significance of khadi, a hand spun and woven fabric given importance by Mahatma Gandhi, during the Independence movement and criticized the Centre for using machine-made polyester flags heavily during the recent Independence Day celebrations.
In an article published by an English newspaper, she urged the switching back to khadi as the exclusive fabric for the national flag. Khadi is a symbol of national pride and also a testament to our country’s rice history and economic vigor, she said.
Sonia Gandhi asserted that khadi is not just a symbol of our past but also an icon of Indian modernity and economic vitality.
She expressed concern over the rising use of machine-made polyester flags, which are made from raw material imported from China and other countries.
Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she wrote: “His moral duplicity in paying deference to the national flag while pledging allegiance to an organization that has remained indifferent to it, is one matter.”
She reminded that according to the Flag Code of India, it has been mandated that the national flag should be made from “hand spun and hand-woven wool,/cotton/silk khadi bunting.”
However, in 2022, on the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence, the Central government decided to amend the Flag Code and include “polyester bunting.” Polyester flags are exempted from the GST, putting them on par with the khadi flags, she pointed out.
The Central government’s measures led to the structural dismantling of India’s micro, small and medium enterprises, which includes the handloom industries. “Thousand of handloom workers quit their profession due to demonetization, GST and the unplanned Covid-19 lockdown,” she lamented.
She highlighted the plight of Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sanhaga in Hubballi district, the only national flag manufacturing unit accredited by the Bureau of Indian Standards. The workers of this unit were forced to go on an indefinite strike to draw the attention to what she termed as “state-sponsored murder” of India’s khadi industry.
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