Women engaged in khadi flag making at the country’s first BIS recognized national manufacturing unit at Bengeri in Hubballi. | Photo credit: KIRAN BAKALE
For Shantha Basavaraj Gundgal, the national flag manufacturing unit at Bengeri in Hubballi is not just a workplace but also life support. After losing her husband nine years ago, the unit helped her earn a living and support her two children in college.
“This job has provided me with a steady income and also allows me to take on other temporary jobs part-time,” she said. However, he is now worried as the unit’s workload has fallen due to a drop in sales and a backlog of national flags. This came at a time when he has to repay his loan of ₹630 per week.
Declining income
Another worker in Ratna Harvi’s unit used to earn ₹6,000 to ₹7,000 a month but now gets only half. Children in college and a growing loan on the small grocery store her husband runs worry them.
Annapoorna Doddmani, who heads the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) strict compliance unit, also has the additional responsibility of guiding visitors through the manufacturing process, from sourcing raw materials to printing the Ashoka Chakra, ensuring color fastness and demonstrating the correct folding method for easy flag hoisting. She looks worried too. “Compared to previous years, we received fewer orders,” she said.
Most of the women workers at the women’s flag-making unit run by the Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangha (KKGSS) have similar stories. There are hundreds of women working in khadi units spread across the North Karnataka district from where the flagship unit gets its raw materials and all of them are affected.
Reason
Women engaged in khadi flag making at the country’s first BIS recognized national manufacturing unit at Bengeri in Hubballi. | Photo credit: KIRAN BAKALE
The main reason why the unit was in distress is the amendment to Article 1.2 of Part 1 of the Indian Flag Code, which allowed the use of polyester and machine-made fabric for sewing the national flag, relaxing the earlier mandatory use of hand-spun and hand-woven khadi fabric.
“Polyester flags are cheaper and come in different sizes, which are not allowed under the Flag Code. As a result, sales of khadi flags are affected. We are under pressure to reduce the number of employees, but somehow we are managing by allocating different roles in other khadi units. But we are not sure how long we can continue this,” said Shivanand Mataphati, KKGSS secretary.
Declining sales
After the debacle caused by the pandemic, the unit recovered in 2022-23 with good sales of ₹3.94 crore. When the Union Government amended the flag code to allow flags made of polyester and machine-made fabrics to facilitate the production of many flags during the “Har Ghar Tiranga” drive, flag sales fell to ₹1.71 million in 2023–24 and further declined to ₹1.21 million in 2024–25. In the current fiscal, the unit could only sell flags worth ₹ 65.51 lakh till December.
The women in the flag unit and the Khadian workers are just hoping that the center withdraws the amendment to the flag code. However, the future looks bleak as repeated memoranda to the Center on the issue have not even received a reply.
Campaign to promote khadi flags
In a bid to help the national flag manufacturing unit in Hubballi, which has seen a decline in sales, a group of like-minded people have launched a campaign to promote the Khadi national flag. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
A group of like-minded people led by Santosh Naragund and others in association with Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangh (KKGSS), Hubballi, has launched an awareness campaign to promote the use of national khadi flags and to protect BIS approved national flag units.
Under the ‘Fly Khadi Tricolour, Buy Khadi Tricolour’ initiative, they plan to expand sales through e-commerce platforms and promote these centers as heritage sites to sustain production and employment. “As part of the initiative, khadi flags are being promoted through various social media platforms,” said one of the coordinators, Lingaraj Dharwadshettar.
See tinyurl.com/flykhaditricolour for details.
Published – 18 Jan 2026 20:27 IST
