Sold on Gandhi dream, Amethi’s charkhas fall silent

Ram Niwas Singh, in his 60s, had set up around 20 charkhas in his home. Women would come and work two-three hours daily, earning around Rs 2,000 per month. All his charkhas are now either lying unused or have been dismantled. Around three years ago, the ashram stopped supplying them cotton.

Rama Shankar Tewari, 60, credited as being the driving force behind several entrepreneurial ventures in the village, says: “We were told that there was some scandal. We wrote to authorities and many officials visited us from Lucknow, Delhi and Mumbai, but nobody was able to restore the system.”

The cost of the charkhas, around Rs 15,000 each, was to have been deducted from the wages of the workers, all of them women, in easy instalments. Many of the women are now owners of unused charkhas. Villagers say there was no problem during UPA 1. During UPA 2, first the wages stopped, with the workers told that the ashram had no money. The women were offered payment in kind, such as khadi cloth, quilts, blankets. Says Sandeep Yadav of Hariharpur, “Gradually that system too stopped.”

Lalti Mishra used to earn around Rs 3,000 a month working on the charkha. An illiterate, she says: “That money was a great help to my family. Those who are seeking votes do not know our plight. Nobody shows any concern.”

For the initial three or four years, some families with several members working on the charkhas had managed to earn over Rs 10,000 per month. Says ashram general secretary Pandey, “Some of the problems are related to finance and some to disputes at the local committees of the ashram. We are trying to overcome the problems and I hope all the charkhas will be operational in two years.”

Some disputes among office-bearers of the local management committees at the district level have also reached courts.

Amethi votes on May 7.