The Government’s Swadeshi campaign today turned pan-India as Home Minister Amit Shah launched the sale of handmade khadi products at paramilitary forces’ canteens.

The khadi products will be now available at 107 Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) canteens.

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“Khadi was a symbol of Swadeshi for Gandhiji and it is also a tool to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” the Home Minister said.

“Khadi itself guarantees purity. I am delighted that the sale of Khadi products has begun in 107 paramilitary canteens and very soon Khadi products will be made available in all paramilitary canteens across the country,” he said.

Shah was speaking after laying foundation for the Central Workshop and Stores of BSF at Tamulpur in Assam.

Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chairman KVIC Vinai Kumar Saxena, Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Director General of BSF and CRPF were present on the occasion.

Shah heaped praises on Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) for creating sustainable rural employment in the country and said its flagship schemes like Honey Mission, Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana, Leather and Carpenter Empowerment Schemes had the potential to create sustainable employment in Assam’s Bodoland.

“If KVIC starts connecting people with its self-employment activities, this will surely eradicate the problem of unemployment in Bodoland and also reconnect the Bodo youths, who had given up arms, with the development of the nation,” he said.

The Home Minister emphasized that under the leadership of the Prime Minister, KVIC clocked a historic turnover of Rs 1.15 lakh crore in 2021-22, registering a massive growth of nearly 250 per cent.

To push Swadeshi, the Home Minister had made it mandatory for all CAPF canteens to sell maximum “Swadeshi” products through Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC).

To begin with, 32 products including National Flag, Cotton Towels, Honey, Kacchi Ghani Mustard Oil, Agarbatti, Daliya, Papad, Pickles, Amla products, etc. will be supplied in the canteens located in Delhi NCR, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and other states.

The development comes after KVIC’s historic agreements with paramilitary forces for the supply of mustard oil, cotton durries and woollen blankets.

So far, KVIC has successfully supplied products worth nearly Rs 17 crore to different paramilitary forces. Modalities are being worked out for supplying a wider range of Khadi products to the paramilitary forces that will include Khadi fabric and readymade garments, cosmetics, eatables and herbal products.