Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday, 17 June 2026, welcomed artisans from across the state at the 'Khadi Rozgar Utsav' held in Siwani, Bhiwani district, distributing modern machinery and releasing a major employment subsidy in what the government described as a ground-level realisation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's khadi vision.

What Happened

At the event, 879 artisans from across Haryana were handed 3,552 modern machines and tool kits under the Gramodyog Vikas Yojana, a scheme run by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) to upgrade traditional village industries with contemporary equipment and skill support.

Simultaneously, a margin money subsidy of Rs 504 crore 68 lakh was released under the Pradhan Mantri Rozgar Srijan Karyakram (PMEGP) to strengthen self-employment and entrepreneurship among micro-enterprise beneficiaries in the state.

KVIC chairman Manoj Kumar was present at the event alongside elected representatives, entrepreneurs, and artisans, whose participation, Saini noted, added to the occasion's significance.

Context

Siwani in Bhiwani has a historical association with khadi and village industry activity, making it a symbolic venue for a state-level artisan event. CM Saini invoked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's formulation — 'Khadi for Nation, Khadi for Fashion aur Khadi for Transformation' [Khadi for the Nation, Khadi for Fashion and Khadi for Transformation] — as the guiding philosophy behind the utsav.

The PMEGP, launched in 2008 by the Ministry of MSME, provides margin money subsidy to micro-enterprises in the non-farm sector and is implemented through KVIC and partner banks. The Gramodyog Vikas Yojana complements it by equipping artisans with modern tools to raise productivity in traditional occupations.

Policy Backdrop

Since 2014, the Union government has systematically positioned khadi as a vehicle for rural self-employment, Atmanirbhar Bharat, and integration with fashion value chains. Successive increases in KVIC budget outlays and the pairing of PMEGP with state-level artisan melas reflect this broader strategy of modernising cottage industries while expanding their market reach.

The Khadi Reform and Development Programme, initiated in 2008-09, had earlier introduced institutional modernisation of khadi bodies with external funding support, laying the groundwork for the scale of disbursements seen at events like the Siwani utsav.

Stakeholders and Impact

The immediate beneficiaries are the 879 artisans receiving machinery under Gramodyog Vikas Yojana, who gain access to modern equipment that can raise output and income without displacing the handcraft character of their work. The PMEGP margin money release is aimed at a broader pool of micro-entrepreneurs who can now access collateral-linked credit at reduced effective cost.

Rural artisans, weavers, and small-scale village industry workers across Haryana stand to benefit from the dual intervention — one targeting tools, the other targeting finance — that the state government says will consolidate the khadi ecosystem at the grassroots.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to the disbursement progress of the announced margin money subsidy and the submission of utilisation certificates by the 879 machinery beneficiaries, which will determine the programme's on-ground effectiveness. The Siwani event may also set a template for similar district-level khadi utsavs across Haryana as the state government looks to deepen artisan outreach ahead of future KVIC planning cycles.