The minimum wages of khadi workers will be hiked to ₹500, according to Kerala Khadi and Village Industries Board chairman M.V. Balakrishnan.
Addressing a khadi workers’ meeting organised here on Saturday to discuss the challenges faced by the khadi sector and khadi workers, he said the workers, on an average, get only ₹210 now. “The remuneration is much lower than what is in other sectors and this has to be corrected,” he said adding that nearly 90 per cent of the khadi sector workers were women.
The wage hike would be made available to not only those directly employed under the board, but also to those working under other agencies, the chairman said. According to him, the board is looking into the possibility of putting an end to the weekly payment of wages and making it a monthly payment system.
He said the Welfare Fund Board for Khadi workers would start functioning within a month. This would bring the khadi workers into the welfare network for the first time and help attract the youth from other sectors.
Mr. Balakrishnan stressed the need to modernise the khadi sector. Most of the charkhas and looms in the khadi sector were old and outdated. “This not only brings down productivity and quality of the product, but also has an impact on the health of the worker,” he said.
The board will take up a project to distribute mechanised charkhas and looms.
The chairman wanted to ensure that the workers were provided with clean drinking water and airy buildings with toilet facilities. Project officers under the board had been asked to ensure such minimum facilities to the workers.
Nearly 400 khadi workers from Kottayam and Alappuzha districts participated in the meeting.
