Five Tamil Nadu villages to fly 5,000 national flags made of khadi

With India completing its 75th year of independence on August 15, at least five villages of Tamil Nadu will fly the Khadi national flags that have been produced by Avvai Ashram of the Gandhigram Trust in Sivasailam. The trust has taken the initiative following the Centre’s ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ initiative. Situated in Tirunelveli district, the trust is looking to produce 5,000 Khadi flags. The trust will distribute these flags for free to help villagers fly the tricolour in their homes or premises. As per K Shivakumar, managing trustee of Gandhigram Trust. A total of ten people have been taught to stitch the national flag and print the Ashoka Chakra on them. The team is working with five others at the trust’s tailoring unit in Sivasailam.

While they have been trained just recently, the team has also been asked to focus on the specifications given by the Centre and only use khadi material to make the flags. They are making nearly 500 to 600 flags on an almost daily basis and completing the production in the next two days. Even as most of the workers are women, they have been trained under the trust’s livelihood programme. They will also be provided employment throughout the year. With this and other initiatives, the trust hopes to ensure lasting income for the Annapurn self-help group (SHG) which the trust has formed. This is also the first time that the unit has been producing tricolour.Apart from Gandhigram and Sivasailam, flags will also be distributed in Chettiapatti, Thoppampatti and Alamarathupatti village panchayats. According to Lt Col N Thiagarajan, the Centre’s relaxation of the flag codes, allowing the public to hoist the national flag is a great opportunity for every citizen to carry the national flag to their homes and help them express their patriotism.