The Ahmedabad Textile Industries Research Association (ATIRA) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) have launched a project to modify the traditional Ambar Charkha used by most of the yarn-making units across Gujarat. This, they believe, will improve the quality and productivity of khadi in the state, which is of very low quality to sustain the market competition. “The present available khadi clothes in the state are of poor quality, partly due to some defects in the Ambar Charkha, which is being used by most of the yarn-making units in the state. So, under a project financed by the state government, ATIRA carried out certain modifications in the Ambar Charkha,” said ATIRA project coordinator P H Shah.He added: “Modifications have increased Ambar Charkha's productivity by 20-25 per cent and yarn quality by 30 per cent. The modifications have also reduced yarn-breakage rate by 50 per cent, while the strength has increased by 10 per cent.” According to Shah, ATIRA has made modifications to various parts of the same to optimise their capability. Another important aspect of the new modification and optimisation, said Shah, is that it would increase the daily income of an average artisan from Rs 70 to Rs 90-100.Finding the modifications in the charkha impressive, NABARD officials have decided to launch a project to finance the modification of 25 more of them in various yarn-making units of the state. It will also organise awareness, demonstration and training programmes in various parts of the state to emphasise the need for artisans to comply with the new modifications in the Ambar Charkha.Assistant General Manager, NABARD, Sukhwinder Bhatoa said that the project would be completed in six months and loans will be available subsequently for the artisans to make modifications in their charkhas.“This thing can have multiple implications. On one hand, the productivity and income of the artisans will be increased; on the other, it will improve the quality of khadi, which will be made from these yarns. This in turn will give khadi some standing in the fierce competition in the textile market,” Bhatoa added.
