The Department of Handlooms and Textiles would be manufacturing a large number of cloth bags as an alternative to plastic which is set to be completely banned in Karnataka by this month end.
The government has directed the Karnataka State Khadi and Village Industries Board (KSKVIB), the Karnataka Handlooms Development Corporation, the Cauvery Handlooms and the Handlooms and Textiles Department to manufacture, promote and sell cloth bags at subsidised rates.
Earlier, the government had sanctioned Rs one crore for the manufacture of cloth bags.
On March 21, 2013, the government had issued guidelines to all religious institutions to discourage plastic and encourage cloth bags. On April 30, 2014, the Commerce and Industries Department had issued guidelines and circulars to avoid use of plastic and encourage the sale of cloth bags at government-run handloom stores. Following this, the textiles department manufactured over a lakh cloth bags and sold them.
What the draft notification says:
The government had issued a draft notification on October 28, 2015, to ban plastic. People were given 30 days to give feedback and suggestions about the ban.
The draft notification stated that: “No person, including shopkeeper, vendor, wholesaler, retailer, trader, hawker or salesman, shall use plastic carry bags, banners, buntings, flex, plastic bags, plastic plates, plastic cups and plastic sheets (for spreading on dining tables) used in functions for serving food items irrespective of thickness.”
“Further, no industry or person shall manufacture, supply, store, transport, sell and distribute plastic carry bags… from the date of publication of the directions through a notification in the gazette,” it added.
The export of plastic carry bags and their use in nurseries, dairy industry, health sector and any other sector for non-consumption are, however, exempted.
