The 89th Textile Institute World Conference to be held in Wuhan in China next month. The conference is supposed to be an international platform for industrialists, academics and researchers in textiles, clothing and footwear sectors.

Bhaskar Banerjee and Bharat Jain, two Professors of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) faculty in Gandhinagar are set to present and popularize khadi as a sustainable fashion garment for the youth in the international circuit.

The conference in China will have representation of top companies of the textile industry and here the NIFT professors will hard sell khadi as the next fashion statement at the global level. They also hope that through this effort they would find a better living for khadi artisans.

Several national brands like Gujarat-based Arvind Mills have manufactured khadi denim trousers to make it youth friendly.

The NIFT faculty said that they have carried out a study that revealed khadi artisans would surely get a good deal if the fabric is popularised in the international arena. However, there is another twist to the khadi tale.

The Gandhian charkha, which spins the khadi yarn, is slowly disappearing. The production of charkha has virtually stopped for the last three to four years. It was in 1993 that Gujarat Khadigram Udyog started producing the charkha but for the last three years they are not getting any orders.

The last requisition that they got very recently was for 100 charkhas. A showpiece charkha costs Rs.125 a piece, while a working one costs between Rs.700 and Rs.7,200, according to requirement.

Several educational institutions used to teach charkha spinning but at present charkha classes for students are held only at Gujarat Vidyapeeth, set up by Mahatma Gandhi.