Sarvodaya Sanghs in Tamil Nadu seek early release of subsidy arrears by State government

The Tamilnadu Sarvodaya Sangh, which has as many as 69 Sarvodaya Sanghs under it, has urged the State government to release the subsidy arrears at the earliest.

The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) and the State government provide 15 % subsidy each for the rebate given to the consumers who buy products at the Sarvodaya Sangh outlets. The KVIC provides the subsidy only on the raw material cost and not on the cost of the end product. The State government has put a cap of ₹22 crore as the annual subsidy amount, irrespective of the total annual sales by the Sarvodaya Sangh outlets.

From 2018-2019 to 2023-2024, the government gave 75 % of the subsidy amount as advance. Since then it has not released any subsidy amount saying that the audits should be completed. The audits are over at almost all the Sarvodaya Sangh. This year, the 69 Sanghs are looking at sales of ₹250 crore to ₹300 crore.

With the subsidy amount not coming, the Sanghs are unable to pay proper wages to the artisans and weavers who are making various products, say the Sangh office bearers.

While the value of sales is increasing every year, production has not gone up significantly as the number of weavers and artisans who are active in the Sanghs is not going up.

The Sanghs have appealed to the State government repeatedly to release the pending amount. But there is no relief yet, affecting rural employment, they added.