The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has initiated the production of Khadi incense sticks from 2021 in order to make India self-sufficient in Agarbatti manufacturing. The central government launched the Khadi Agarbatti Atmanirbhar Mission (KAAM) 2021 to take ahead the large-scale production of Agarbatti.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari of MSME approved this unique employment generation opportunity proposed by Khadi and Village Industries Commission. This welfare scheme of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium enterprises will make India independent in the manufacturing of Agarbatti. The Khadi Agarbatti Atmanibhar Mission scheme is prepared in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
Objectives of KAAM
The primary objective of the KAAM scheme is to generate employment for migrant workers by increasing the production of domestic Agarbatti. KAAM was submitted by the KVAM to the MSME Ministry for approval in the month of July of 2020, and the same was approved in the month of August of 2020. In no time, the KAAM pilot project will be launched for the entire country. Thousands of job opportunities are predicted to be generated after the full implementation of the Khadi Agarbatti Atmanirbhar Mission.
Features of KAAM
In order to increase the rate of employment in India, along with strengthening the service sector of the nation, the KAAM welfare scheme has the following salient features:
- By establishing micro-enterprises, a large chunk of the traditional and prospective artisans, urban as well as rural unemployed youth of India will get a permanent and continuous employment
- Generating sustainable and permanent employment opportunities in rural as well as urban sectors of the country.
- The main objective of the scheme is to increase the earning capacity of the artisans and increase the employment rate.
- The government will put more emphasis on supporting traditional artisans and unemployed youth.
- The government sets targets on the basis of the state’s backwardness, population and rate of unemployment
- Encouraging the participation of financial institutions for higher credit in the micro and small enterprises sector.
Employment scope of KAAM
Every automatic Agarbatti making machine manufactures about 80 kg of incense sticks each day, which will directly provide employment to 4 people. The Government of India has decided to only acquire locally manufactured machines by Indian manufacturers under the Khadi Agarbatti Atmanirbhar Mission. A total of 25% grant is issued on the cost of the machines. It will recover the remaining 75% of the cost from the artisans in simple instalments each month.
The raw materials for incense sticks will be given to the artisans by the trading partners and pay the wages on the basis of work to the workers. Moreover, the cost of training artisans will be divided among the private business partner and KVIC in the following way- KVIC will bear 75% of the cost while 25% will be paid by the business partner.
Application procedure of KAAM
In order to enjoy the benefits of the KAAM scheme, the villagers will have to apply for it online.