Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) [India]: Pride of our nation, the National Flag ‘Tiranga’ prepared in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior district will be hoisted in various government offices across 22 states in the country this year.
Madhya Bharat Khadi Sangh located in the city prepares the Khadi National Flag only for the government bodies and it is the only Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certified national flag manufacturing organisation in North India. This year it has received orders for around 55,000 national flags. It has supplied 14,300 flags in 22 states so far.
Secretary of Madhya Bharat Khadi Sangh, Rama Kant Sharma said, “We have made 14300 flags and supplied them in 22 states across the country so far. We have received orders around 55000 flags worth about Rs 5 crore and we have supplied flags worth Rs 1 crore so far.
We have supplied the flags to Goa, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bengal, Bihar, Andaman & Nicobar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and many other states.”
“We have a staff of 222 working here. The flag is sent only after completing all the norms. It should not be considered only as a khadi cloth, it is associated with the spirit of our country, it is a symbol of our pride and a lot of standards are taken care of while preparing the flag,” he said.
Sharma further says that they feel very proud that they make the national flag of the country with their hands and its demand remains the same throughout the year.
This branch of Madhya Bharat Khadi Sangh, Gwalior is the only Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certified national flag manufacturing organisation in North India, he added.
The centre was established in 1930, since then it has been manufacturing the national flag continuously till date.
The manager of the centre, Neelu said, “The making of the flag is being done following the entire standards of Khadi and the national flag is prepared after performing 21 types of tests. Right now we are making three sizes of flags which are of Indian Standards Institution mark (ISI) 2*3, 3*4.5, and 6*4.”
About 50 to 60 flags are made here in a day. The flags are properly checked. It is prepared according to BIS norms, checking is done at each point, measurement is done, only then the centre is able to make an ISI mark certified flag, the manager added.
She further said, “Mostly we make 2*3 size flag which is being supplied in various states. After every process, we have a checkpoint, like when we make threads, then there is a checkpoint after that, when weaving is done, then comes another checkpoint for that.”
The demand for flags remains throughout the year but it increases a lot on the occasion of Independence day (August 15) and Republic day (January 26), which sometimes the centre is not able to fulfil. The workers also feel very proud that the national flag prepared from their hands hoists on big buildings. It is a matter of great pride, the manager added.