The withdrawal of 10 per cent rebate, which was given to the khadi industry around the year, and 20 per cent that was given for 108 days a year to mark the Gandhi Jayanti, has left the local khadi industry in the lurch with many units facing an immediate closure.

The Union Government had abruptly put an end to the rebate given to the khadi industry from April 1 onwards. The local industry, which was highly dependent on the rebate, has been hit the hardest by the decision.

Many khadi and village industries in the Country had provided employment to a considerable number of artisans. The latest move might render this workforce jobless in the near future.

The rebate was the lifeline for the industry, as khadi clothes were being sold in the market at a discount of 30 per cent, the decision would push the industry further towards extinction as it had been already facing a resource crunch.

It was quite unbecoming on the part of the Union Government to stop the rebate as this had been introduced to promote the khadi industry, which was endorsed by Mahatma Gandhi himself.

At present, the government owes over Rs 450 crore to the khadi industry of the Haryana state as rebate, which has not been released despite repeated pleas.

Even bank loans, which were earlier granted at an interest rate of 4 per cent, are now given at an interest rate of 12 per cent, which has made it altogether more difficult for the khadi units to survive.

In the present scenario, where highly sophisticated industry units had taken over the major market shares, khadi could only be saved with immediate intervention of the government.

“Even the Congressmen have stopped wearing khadi now. Perhaps the latest move of the government will completely ruin the khadi industry, which at one point of time had played an important role in the country’s struggle for freedom,”.

A strong appeal had already been put up before the Union Government and they could only hope for a positive response that would go a long way in safeguarding the interests of the khadi industry.

Khadi Institutions are the implementing agencies forwarding rebate benefits directly to the consumers and generate employments.

Two veteran Parliamentarians and political figures-- Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP) and Mr Lalu Prasad(RJD) raised the issue in the Lok Sabha as to how the withdrawal of rebate on Khadi during the period following Mahatma Gandhi's birthday on October 2 will ruin cottage, village and Khadi industries  and destroy the unique symbol that India stands for and which the world has come to admire so much. The issue was raised by the two leaders separately during Zero Hour, enjoining upon the government  to restore the subsidy and rebate that was given to khadi products. In a dramatic manner, Mr Mulayam Singh showed to Speaker Meira Kumar a picture of the Mahatma weaving thread on a wheel, the 'Charkha', symbolising freedom, non-violence and self-reliance. The immortal Mahatma, who transcended time and space, used Khadi to fight the tyranny of the machines deployed by the British in England to destroy the fine handicrafts of the colonised country. The destruction of handicrafts led to weavers being thrown back into agriculture, whose productivity was already low, resulting in de-industrialisation of India. Later, Mr Prasad raised the issue again, saying that for many tribals in vast tracks of the land. it was a source of livelihood. The leaders were unequivocal that cottage industries were the backbone of the Indian economy  and need to be protected and nurtured, that 80 per cent of the rural populace consumes the hand woven cloth and that it was during the rebate period that brisk sales of khadi and village industries products takes place. Seeing the agitated members, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Narayansamy said he will convey the feelings of the House to the Minister concerned

In order to promote market for khadi products, the Government had continued through the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) a policy of rebate on sale of khadi and khadi products till 2009-10. Normal rebate @10% of sales used to be given throughout the year whereas a special rebate of additional 10% used to be given for 108 days in a year coinciding with Gandhi Jayanti and / or local festivals. However, on the recommendations of Expert Committee and after trying several pilot projects and extensive consultations with stakeholders, the Government has introduced a more flexible scheme, namely, Market Development Assistance (MDA) Scheme on production of khadi in place of existing scheme of Rebate on sales with effect from 01.04.2010 for implementation by KVIC during 2010-11 and 2011-12. The scheme envisages financial assistance @ 20% of production value on khadi and polyvastra which will be shared among artisans, producing institutions and selling institutions in the ratio 25:30:45. Under the new system of MDA, sales are expected to be evenly spread throughout the year, the institutions will have the flexibility to use the assistance in improving the outlets, products, giving incentive to customers, etc.

The total number of workers in the Khadi and Village Industries sector as per data compiled by KVIC, is about 1.08 crore including an estimated 9.81 lakh artisans alone in the khadi sub-sector.

The erstwhile scheme of rebate on sales caused delay in paying incentives to the institutions in the sense that they would have to wait till sale and wait till next year to get the claims reimbursed. Under MDA, incentive would be provided immediately after production of the items and this is expected to ease out the working capital situation of the institutions by ensuring immediate liquidity which would in turn ensure timely payment to the artisans. The newly introduced MDA scheme has a provision of sharing 25% of the assistance (MDA) with the artisans as incentive or bonus in addition to their wages through their bank accounts or post office accounts. With these measures, the sector is expected to grow at a faster pace ultimately benefiting the artisans.

For the development of khadi sector, the Government, through KVIC, has introduced several other new schemes, in addition to MDA scheme for khadi and polyvastra, namely, ‘Workshed Scheme for Khadi Artisans’ for providing assistance for construction of worksheds for better work environment and the ‘Scheme for enhancing productivity & competitiveness of Khadi Industries and Artisans’ to assist 200 khadi institutions to make khadi industry competitive with more market driven and profitable production by replacement of obsolete and old machinery and equipment and ‘Strengthening of Infrastructure of existing Weak Khadi Institutions and Assistance for Marketing Infrastructure’ which includes strengthening of infrastructure of existing 100 weak selected khadi institutions. Besides, the recently introduced Khadi Reforms and Development Programme funded by the Asian Development Bank also provides for revitalization of khadi sector through measures which, inter alia, include enhanced employment and earnings of the artisans through their capacity building and empowerment.

This information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Shri Dinsha Patel in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on 30 july, 2010.

Is the sparrow's urban habitat responsible for its decline? Would it have been safer if it confined itself to the wilderness?

You won't find sparrows in jungles, deserts or places where humans are not present. The sparrow is a species that has evolved with humans and is always found in and around human habitations.

It's not the urban habitat but the modification in architecture , the pollution caused by microwave towers; the excessive use of pesticides, a gradual decrease in nesting sites, food sources and the replacement of native plants by exotic varieties, which are to be blamed.

Do sparrows, which are fiercely independent, lay eggs in the nests provided by us?

Since they have always been in and around humans, a nest box provided to them is willingly accepted by them. As the nest boxes replicate their natural nesting site it doesn't change its natural behaviour in any way.

Are sparrows an ignored species because the government spends a lot of money on saving other wild animals?

Somehow the concept of conservation as far as conservation of flora and fauna is concerned has always been T-centric that is Tiger and Threatened. If it isn't either of the Ts, it's not considered worthy of conservation in India.

This attitude towards conservation has to be changed. It's still a myth that only what is in the forests have to be considered for conservation. The layman doesn't even think that common birds like house sparrows, mynas or even squirrels are wild and also need to be conserved. These animals are also protected by the Wildlife Act of India.

This attitude is also within the scientific community ; in India there is very little research done on the common birds. Even after 60 years of Independence, we have no common bird monitoring system in place. The case of research on common birds of India is a classical example of how research and scientists are treated in India.

Do You know the reasons behind....................."Birds lovers have seen house sparrow disappear from our surroundings over the period of time houses. They are now almost limited to story telling to children."

"House sparrow is disappearing because of many reasons. The main reason being that EFFECT OF CELL PHONE RADIATION ON GAURIYA
SPARROWS PASSER DOMESTICUS , its routine habitat is missing from our modern houses,'' as well.

Are sparrows facing a threat of extinction only in India or across the globe?

The decline of house sparrows is a global phenomenon and the species is declining in most of its natural range. The decline is visible in countries like the UK where they have historical statistical data with a decline rate as high as 67% because of which its conservation status has been changed to a red listed species of high conservation concern.

Sadly in India, we don't have any historical statistical data because no one ever cared to count house sparrows.

NEW TO THE NEST?
    Still curious? Check out the following links for more information on the House Sparrow.

http://www.natureforever.org/adopt.html#housesparrow

http://www.natureforever.org/help.html

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/celebration/promote

नरेश कादयान

http://nareshkadyan.blogspot.com/
अध्यक्ष,पीपल्स फॉर एनिमल हरियाणा,
Naresh Kadyan

http://nareshkadyan.webs.com/
अंतरराष्ट्रीय पशु रक्षा संगठन के भारतीय प्रतिनिधि
Representative of the International Organization for Animal Protection in India,
http://www.oipa.org/oipa/news/oipaindia.html
Chairman, PFA Haryana

http://www.pfaharyana.in/
+91-9813010595 , 9313312099
http://nareshkadyanbook.blogspot.com/
पशुओं के प्रति क्रूरता निवारणःनियम अधिनियम और सूचनाएँ

TAKE ACTION :
Online petition to release captured female leopard in her natural habitat back and demolish all encrochments...........

Link for view farm house and cage............

Link for dog offered as bet to capture female leopard by farm house owner............

Kind attention :

* HE the Governor of Haryana.

* The Chief Minister of Haryana.

* The Chief Wild Life Warden Haryana.
* The Director General of Police Haryana.
* The Commissioner of Gurgaon Police.
* The Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon.

Today on 11-7-2010 morning one female leopard was caught by a farm house owner Mr. Jain with the help of local wildlife authorities, cage was fixed with their unofficial consultation, female leopard is injured where as two cubs left behind in the Aravali hills area of District Gurgaon in Haryana.
The International Organisation for Animal Protection - OIPA in India and People for Animals (PFA) Haryana in the opinion that this leopard was forcefully captured adopting illegal methods, where as this animals never entered in any village nor in a city and she is not a man eater then why she was captured from her natural habitat?. Naresh Kadyan spoken with the CWLW Haryana for strict legal action against farm house owner along with all other involved in capturing, animal be rehabilitated back in their natural habitat along with her cubs.
It would be pertinent to mention here that all farm houses should be demolished at once to protect wildlife in the Aravali hills.

Abhishek Kadyan,
Media Adviser to OIPA in India,
C-38, Rose Apartment, Prashant Vihar,
Sector-14, Rohini,
DELHI - 110085.
Mobile...09813010595.
All encroachments and farm houses should be demolished at once to protect wildlife in Aravali hills area and this innocent female leopard be released at once again in that area from where she was illegally captured, strict legal action be taken against all offenders including owner of the farm house, wildlife officials as well who gave cage to the owner of farm house - Naresh Kadyan