Gandhi Jayanti: KVIC hands over 'wooden charkha' to India's High Commission in Uganda

New Delhi: Ahead of Gandhi Jayanti, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has handed over a ‘wooden charkha’ to India’s High Commission in Kampala in Uganda as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi’s significant work in Africa. This would be first ‘charkha’ (spinning wheel) to be installed on foreign soil under the aegis of KVIC. [caption id=“attachment_2875432” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of the world’s largest wooden charkha at T-3 Departure Forecourt, IGI Airport in New Delhi. PTI[/caption] KVIC chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena and Chief Executive Officer BH Anil Kumar handed over the ‘charkha’ to the high commission representative. The ‘charkha’, which weighs around 25 kilogrammes with the acrylic box packing, is made of high-quality teak wood and 3.6 feet long, 1 foot 11 inch tall and 1.5 feet wide. The KVIC chairman said that it was a proud moment for the commission and the country as it would not only cement a long-lasting relationship with a continent that had shaped Gandhiji’s career but also immortalise and spread his legacy in Africa and beyond. “By putting up this ‘charkha’ in Uganda, we will commemorate a great man, who worked hard to spread a message of peace, non-violence and self-reliance in the world,” he said. Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Giriraj Singh also hailed the KVIC’s decision to provide this ‘charkha’ for Gandhi Jayanti celebrations in Uganda on 2 October. The KVIC had recently installed a high-quality stainless-steel climate-resistant ‘charkha’ at Connaught Place in New Delhi. Earlier, the KVIC had installed a four-ton world’s largest Charkha (30 feet long, 17 feet tall and 9 feet wide), made of high-quality Burma teak wood at Terminal 3 of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport.