The multitude of charakas or spinning wheels at Badanavalu’s khadi production centre, located about 33 km from Mysuru, will start spinning again from Friday after nearly 50 days of lockdown.
The centre was established in 1927 in the nondescript village on the Mysuru–Chamarajanagar highway. It was for the first time in the 93-year history of the centre that the units were shut owing to lockdown imposed to prevent the possible spread of COVID-19.
The spinning and weaving centre employs 70 workers, mainly women, drawn from Badanavalu and surrounding areas. Apart from economic emancipation of the local women, the significance of the unit stems from the symbolism of khadi and its association with Mahatma Gandhi and freedom struggle when swadeshi movement took strong roots.
Mr. Rajappa, secretary of Khadi Gramodyoga Sahakara Sangha, under which the unit functions, said the spinning wheels and looms stopped functioning on March 25 when the lockdown was announced. “With the graded lifting of the lockdown, The spinning centre will start functioning from Friday,” he added.
Many of the women folk employed by the spinning centre used to come from the adjoining villages surrounding Badanavalu but in the absence of transportation, the women folk stayed away from work and the unit suspended operations temporarily. However, it led to other economic consequences too. Most of the women employed by the centre are daily wagers and the amount earned depended on the length of the yarn spun by them. “We pay ₹7 per yard and depending on the output they earn anywhere between ₹100 to ₹150. However, during the lockdown they were out of work and were deprived of their daily wages,” said Mr. Rajappa.
But he is confident of the spinning wheels springing back to life though there will be social distancing and the workers will be spread out in the unit. As for raw materials, there is adequate stock of cotton to last another two months by when the sangha hopes there will be return to normalcy. The other units located at Kirgunda, also in Mysuru, and Kabbur in Hassan district, were also shut all these days owing to the lockdown and they will resume spinning from Friday.
Badanavalu drew the attention of Mahatma Gandhi who visited the village in 1927 at the behest of his follower Tagadur Ramachandra Rao, who popularised khadi in the region. Gandhiji visited the centre again in 1932 and the fortunes of the centre has seen ups and downs in the recent decades.
But the sangha is optimistic that the renewed thrust on going local or “desi”, and emphasis on self-reliance and swadeshi in the post-lockdown scenario, will widen the scope and market for khadi.
