Assam government will provide khadi shirt, eri shawl and eri stole to grade IV employees of the state in a phased manner.
The first phase will be started in January.
The Assam government announced a similar initiative in 2017, coinciding with the 148th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Chairing a meeting to expedite the process of giving free khadi clothes to the state government employees, Sonowal said the initiative has been taken in the true spirit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for Aatmanirbhar Bharat and state government’s series of activities for making Assam self-reliant.
Sonowal, while taking a note on the steps taken by the Handloom and Textile department to implement the programme, asked minister for handloom and textile Ranjit Dutta to ensure its successful and expeditious implementation.
He also said the government’s decision to gift khadi clothes to its employees would strengthen the khadi industry in the state.
The move will empower local weavers as nearly 80,000 khadi shirts, stoles and shawls would be required to be knitted in the first phase to gift the government employees, Sonowal added.
Sonowal said: “Khadi industry is the pride of local industry. Promotion of this industry will amount to endorsing of an ideology of self-reliance and empowerment of every single man and woman.”
