The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) Srinagar on Saturday organised a day-long 'Khadi Mahotsav' as part of the Government of India’s campaign to celebrate the event across the country.

The event was organised in the back drop of the Prime Minister’s emphasis laid on the role of khadi in transforming the nation through fashion for the youth. The theme of the event revolved around Atmanirbhar Bharat, Swadeshi and Vocal for local.

During the event, the faculty members of the NIFT Srinagar held interactions with the invited students from around a dozen colleges and schools and made them aware about the history and the importance of Khadi Fabric, which is historically perceived as a symbol of unification, freedom struggle, and association of patriotism.

This fabric showcases the idea of swadeshi which is still popular amongst a wide stratum across India and it is a versatile fabric in terms of textures, weight and fabric content, an official said.

The event also threw light on the challenges faced by Khadi sector, non-availability of genuine hand spun yarn besides the confusion among the consumers about genuine khadi products.

During the event, a fashion show was held by the NIFT students to highlight Khadi and handlooms as versatile and fashionable fabric to the audience larger than NIFT.

The Campus also held Khadi exhibition to highlight the concept such as 'Know your weave', 'Khadi for Fashion'.

A hand spinning workshop was also held at the occasion which highlighted the use of fabric.

The management of NIFT had displayed Charkhas which were run by the trained artisans to give a firsthand experience to the students.

In her address, Vice Chairperson Khadi and Village Industries Board (KVIB), Dr Hina Shafi Bhat who was the chief guest on the occasion said that Khadi was not only a fabric, but it represents nation, fashion and transformation. “People are aware about its history that it has started from our freedom struggle,” she said.

Stating that Khadi is the manifestation of our values, Dr Bhat said that people should also know the pain, struggle these artisans go through.

“Our Prime Minister has given importance to Khadi because this fabric is made by poor artisans who are close to heart of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” she said and congratulated the management of the NIFT Srinagar for organizing the event.

Earlier, Director NIFT, Dr Javid Ahmad Wani said the motive for organizing the event was to let youth know why we should be vocal for local.

“We want that new ideas, innovations and technology should merge with the Khadi to make it contemporary” he said and sent an open invitation to all the designers to visit the campus and get in touch with the NIFT faculty and students.

Chief Area Manager (CAM), Northern Railways Saquib Yousuf also spoke at the occasion. He emphasised that using modern showcasing tools, Khadi can be made trendy among youth.