Hubballi (Karnataka): Even as the country gears up to celebrate Independence Day with much pomp and gaiety, the demand for national flags has significantly dipped at the Bengeri unit in Karnataka's Hubbali district. Courtesy, incessant rainfall, floods and bad weather conditions.
Bengeri's Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangha (KKGSS) is the country's sole national flag manufacturing unit that is accredited by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Here, the demand for national flags has fallen by 50 percent. Compared to 2,26,18,614 flags that were manufactured by the unit last year, this time the figure is only 97,11,000.
Although a record sale happened during the Amrita Mahotsava celebrations, this time, sale of only Rs 97 lakh flags have been recorded till July, secretary of the Centre, Sivananda Mathapati told ETV Bharat.
"There is always a huge demand for the national flag from both North and South India. But, this year a different picture is being witnessed. Every year, we register a sale of 3 to 3.5 crore and are expecting to garner 3.5 crore sales till January 26, 2025. However, we are facing a lot of problem due to the rains, floods, landslides and extreme weather condition," he said.
"According to the BIS, nine different sizes of flags namely 21x14, 12x8, 9x6, 6x4, 4.5x3, 3x2, 1.5x1, 9x6 and 6x4 feet are manufactured and sold. The price ranges from Rs 250 to 30,000 depending on the size. Khadi production has been hit as water entered into the looms and accessories used in making the flags. The KKGSS has a stock of 1.8 million flags that were manufactured last year," Mathapati said.
A staff blamed the decrease in sales to the Centre's decision to allow manufacturing of polyester and synthetic flags. "On the occasion of Amrita Mahotsava, the Central government allowed the manufacture of polyester and synthetic flags, resulting which, there has been a decrease in demand for flags made of Khadi," Annapoorna Doddamani, a staff of the Khadi-manufacturing unit said.
Along with this, the incessant rains throughout June and July has led to a dip in sales. Earlier, we used to do overtime and earn more salary but this time, the demand is less so the unit and the workers have been hit, she added.
Considering the data of the last four years, there has been a significant rise in sales barring this year, when almost a dip of 50 percent in the sales has been recorded.
In 2020-21, a total of 1,15,16,290 flags were manufactured while in 2021-22 and 2022-23, the figures were 2,05,20,171 and 4,28,28,850 respectively. In 2023-24, nearly 2,26,18,614 flags were manufactured but this year, the figure is only 97,11,000.
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