KVIC to start online delivery of Lakshmi-Ganesh idols this Diwali

Varanasi: Moving a step ahead towards promotoing local products and ousting Chinese products, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) will start online booking for delivering idols of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesh as well as earthen lamps for Diwali celebrations.
Potters, mainly from Varanasi region, will play a key role in KVIC’s venture, which has entered the e-commerce industry two months ago with handmade paper packaging materials to prevent plastic pollution
Talking to TOI on Monday, KVIC chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena disclosed, “We have decided to begin online sale of earthen lamps and idols of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesh this Diwali. The initiative aims to promote Swadeshi products and reduce the import of these articles from China. The KVIC will make it possible with the help of potters fraternity, especially from Varanasi region.”
To revive the pottery industry, Saxena said, KVIC has distributed over 2,700 electric potter wheels among potters in Varanasi region. Similar initiatives were taken at the pottery clusters of Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Leh, Haryana and Gujarat, he said adding that Diwali articles for home deliveries on online orders will be largely procured from Varanasi while other regions will also give their contributions.
The KVIC has set an initial target of selling at least one lakh Lakshmi-Ganesh idols apart from earthen lamps, said Saxena, but in case of more demand the potters will be asked to increase the production.
Saxena said, potters in villages including Arjunpur, Khalispur, Dhamanpur, Mankaiya, Devapur, Daulatiya and Abhini are specifically being trained to make Lakshmi-Ganesh idols, decorative lamps, earthen magic lamps, earthen lamps, earthen chandeliers and other home decorative and gift items.
With its entry in e-commerce just two moths ago, he said KVIC has ensured use of eco-friendly packaging materials as per the Khadi’s principle of ‘Green Chemistry.’ KVIC uses handmade paper envelopes/packets and carton boxes for packaging except for liquid materials where plastic wraps are nominally used to prevent leakage during transit. KVIC, is also preparing to replace plastic for packing face masks by specially designed handmade paper envelopes made of banana fibre.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has already directed e-commerce companies to put a check on excessive use of plastic in packaging while the Central Pollution Control Board has also been asked to take necessary steps to curb plastic pollution, said Saxena adding that in view of the same, the KVIC decided to enter in e-commerce with handmade paper packets and carton boxes.