Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah addressed the Mati Kala Mahotsav in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, today. Many dignitaries including Union Minister Shri Narayan Rane and Shri Bhanupratap Singh Verma were present on this occasion.

In his address, Shri Amit Shah said that Khadi Mati Kala Mahotsav is a multidimensional idea which has been taken forward by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He said that the idea of Khadi was first put forward by Mahatma Gandhi in front of everyone by linking it with the freedom movement and through this, Bapu worked to connect all the people living in poverty with employment. Along with this, Gandhi Ji worked towards reducing the demand for foreign clothes and spread the spirit of Swadeshi and Swaraj to every village. Shri Shah said that even today the idea of Khadi is multi-dimensional and multi-purpose. He said that Prime Minister Modi has not only revived the idea of Khadi but also worked to popularize Khadi by taking it forward and to the common people.

The Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has done the work of linking Swadeshi and employment in the call of “Vocal for Local”. He said that it is because of the vision of Shri Modi that the dying Khadi movement is touching new dimensions today. Under the leadership of Shri Modi, India has become the fastest growing economy in the world. Shri Shah added that under the leadership of Shri Modi the economic development of the country is taking place and along with this, Prime Minister Modi has also taken many steps to make the economy all-inclusive. He said that increasing the turnover of Khadi to three times means providing employment to crores of people and when these people become self-reliant then the increasing GDP figure becomes humane. This also brings confidence, self-reliance and happiness in the lives of crores of people. He said that today in this Khadi Mati Kala Mahotsav, 300 electric potter wheels, 40 agro-based food processing industry tool kits, 40 incense stick making machines to women, 20 plumbing kits and more than 200 traditional charkhas have been given.

Shri Amit Shah said that today a Central Silver Plant (CSP) has been inaugurated which is very important for the production of Khadi. He said that this CSP which was built 30 years ago, has been modernized at a cost of Rs 10 crore, due to which production will increase, quality will improve and all the material of the people spinning Khadi will be utilized. Shri Shah said that today 8 newly constructed post offices have also been inaugurated virtually where many facilities like mail, parcel booking, Aadhaar services, banking postal services, life insurance, rural postal life insurance and digital certificates for pensioners will be available. He said that now all the people of Gandhinagar area do not need to go anywhere to get a passport, now they can get the application processed from their nearest post office. He added that these same post offices had sent 53,000 national flags under the Har Ghar Tiranga Abhiyan in Gandhinagar area. Shri Shah said that when Prime Minister Modi had conceived this campaign, no one had anticipated that this campaign would become such a huge success for awakening the spirit of patriotism. He said that from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Dwarka to Kamakhya, there was no building left without our Tricolour being hoisted and this campaign revived the spirit of patriotism.

The Union Home Minister said that today, under PMEGP, online payment of margin money of about Rs 200 crore has been made to 5000 beneficiaries across India including Gujarat, which will enable them to get a loan of Rs 600 crore. He said that Khadi Village Industries has made a lot of progress in the last 9 years. Shri Shah said that Shri Modi gave priority to Khadi and as a result the total turnover of Khadi has crossed Rs 1,35,000 crore in 2022-23. At least 1 lakh people have contributed to this turnover of Rs 1,35,000 crore. Today lakhs of people have achieved their livelihood through this turnover of Rs 1,35,000 crore and they are living with dignity.

The Union Home Minister requested the people of Gujarat and the country that every family should promote Khadi by purchasing Rs 5,000 worth Khadi or products of Khadi Village Industries in a year. He said that if every family in the country buys Khadi worth Rs 5000, the number of unemployed people in the country will decrease by more than half.

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RK/AY/ASH