Khadi Board losing its lustre: Set up to provide financial aid to people in rural areas, the Board has failed in its task

Khadi Board losing its lustre

 Set up to provide financial aid to people in rural areas, the Board has failed in its task 

Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, October 29The Punjab Khadi and Village Industries Board, which was established to provide financial assistance to people in the rural areas for setting up cottage industries, has failed to serve its basic purpose in Muktsar, Faridkot and Moga districts.
In the last one-and-a-half years, not even a single applicant has got financial assistance from the Board in these districts. The reason for this has been the delay in the approval of the annual budget of the Board.
Highly placed sources in the department said the Board's budget was not approved last year (2011-12) and this year too, it has been delayed for long.
As of now, in the current fiscal year (2012-13), not even a single applicant has availed of financial assistance from the Board. A number of applications have come up before the Board's offices located in these districts, but delay in the allocation of budget has further delayed the entire exercise.
Krishan Lal, District Khadi and Village Industries Officer, who holds the charge of three districts (Muktsar, Faridkot and Moga), said, "Last year, the Board's budget was not approved, so we could not provide financial assistance to any applicant. This year too, the situation is almost similar as the budget was allocated only recently."
He, however, said the delay in allocating the budget was on the part of the Central Government and not the state government.
Giving details, he said as of now, nearly 15 people had filed applications in Muktsar district seeking financial assistance from the Board.
An applicant, who sought monetary help said, "I fulfill all the conditions for being a beneficiary and sought financial assistance 17 months ago, but nothing has been done in my case so far. My hard work has proved to be a fruitless effort."

Courtesy: The Tribune