PMO clears proposal to dissolve, restructure Khadi commission

The Government has decided to do away with the existing Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), one of the country’s oldest statutory bodies. This decision was finalised earlier this week. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is understood to have given the final clearance to the Ministry of Industry’s restructuring proposal.
The Government has also decided to appoint an expert committee to advise on the restructuring. At present, KVIC provides employment to 71 lakh people and has a presence in some 3 lakh villages.
The expert group, whose composition is yet to be announced, will examine how to make KVIC more professional and competitive. A change in the administrative structure of the KVIC is also on the cards.
In its present avatar, the KVIC is a statutory body, working under the administrative control of the Ministry of Industry under the Department of Small Scale Industries and Agro and Rural Industries.
It had earlier taken over the work of the All India Khadi and Village Industries Board.
The Commission was set up in 1957 and has six zonal members, including one Chairman, two expert members and two official members. Its Chairman, CEO and Financial Members are its full-time members.
The Industries Ministry has for long been proposing a revamp of the KVIC aimed at increasing its sales turnover and at turning around some of its loss-making segments.
The KVIC has a sales turnover of Rs 11,000 crore but despite several reviews has remained an unwieldy, loosely knit organisation.
The KVIC is currently headquartered in Mumbai and has 30 State khadi and village boards, over 3500 institutions and over 29,000 co-operative societies.