SHUBHANGI SHIFA
Ranchi, Aug 4: The demand for national flags remains on the top when occasions like Independence Day and Republic Day are round the corner. However, this year being the 75th year of India’s independence, a special campaign namely ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ under the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is being run across the country to encourage people to bring the tricolor home and to hoist it to mark this day. The campaign has, as a result, multiplied the demand and manufacturing of the national flag tenfold.
Local vendors in Upper Bazaar have also set up shops and have begun selling the flags already. One such vendor Md Nishan, who makes flags at his home, said, “We have been in the flag making business since my father’s time. We earlier made 10,000-15,000 small flags sold for Rs 5-10, however this year we have made 30,000-40,000. On the other hand, 200-300 bigger flags were made earlier, while this year, we have made 400-500 pieces that are sold for Rs 80-100.”
When questioned about the preparation he did for the increased demand, he said, “We usually begin the work six months prior. We did the same this year, however the number of workers increased from 4-5 every year to 7-8 this year.”
Meanwhile, Md Umar Khan of Kashish flags said, “We begin working six months before August 15. This year as well we began work around the same time as the message was delivered very late. Had we been informed early, we would have had stocks.
“This year we have received orders from government and non government institutions from all over the state. Now we have sold almost all our products. We had around 10,000 flags this year, but now people are demanding up to 1.5 lakh flags, which is not possible for us.”
On the other hand, important guidelines have also been provided by the state government to its office bearers to make this campaign a success, due to which the women in garment production and training center of Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS) are working hard day and night in the city.
Women are also making flags from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm at the garment production cum training center located in Ratu here. Women have claimed here that so far 1.5 lakh flags have been made. The target is to make around 10 lakh flags from all the centers of the state.
Nitish Sinha, State Program Manager, JSLPS said, “JSLPS has been given a target of making 10 lakh flags which is likely to be completed by August 7. Apart from this, about 80 lakh flags have to be made for government, non-government and various institutions and houses of the entire state.”
Basanti Kumari, one of the women working there, said, “We are here to fulfill the goal of making the flags. All the women of Sakhi Mandal were first given training for making the flag. They were informed about the length and width of the flag that is to be kept at 16×24.”
Notably, the government of India has also collaborated with various e-commerce websites and self-help groups to streamline the process of the supply of the flag. Making the sale of the national flag, irrespective of how it is manufactured, exempt from the GST has also given big support to manufacturing, sale and purchase of the same. As a result, even flag makers all across the city are flooded with orders.
