MGIRI launches new project to redesign charkha for 21st century
The Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Rural Industrialization (MGIRI) has launched a project to redesign the Charkha for the 21st century. The initiative was launched in collaboration with the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), and a number of top-tier academic and research institutions across India.
According to SCL Das, Secretary, MSME Ministry, the project aims to improve productivity using modern technology while keeping the original spirit of self-reliance intact. Roop Rashi, CEO, KVIC Roop Rashi emphasizes, while there are over 300,000 spinners working on charkhas in India, the demand for high-quality khadi far outstrips the current supply. Modernizing the process will boost production and provide a more sustainable income for millions of artisans, he affirms.
To accomplish this, a wide array of leading professors and experts from prestigious institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in Delhi, Kharagpur, Dhanbad, Jammu, and Patna, as well as the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) in Silchar, Jalandhar, and Calicut, have been invited to contribute. This broad collaboration aims to leverage the nation's best engineering and design minds to create ‘a new age charkha.’
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