As the festival season kicks off, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday appealed to the people to use Swadeshi (Made in India) products – from gifts to clothes to items related to festivities – to give a boost to making India self-reliant and instill a sense of pride for indigenous, locally-made items.
In the 125th episode of his monthly ‘Mann ki Baat’ address to the nation, the PM said the whole country is in the midst of celebrating Ganesh Utsav and a slew of festivals will follow. “The radiance of many festivals will spread in the coming days. You should never forget about Swadeshi products during these festivals. Gifts should be those which are made in India, attire should be woven in India, decor should be that which is made from materials made in India, and luminary items should be from Indian-made frills and so on. Everything in every need of life should be Swadeshi,” Modi said.
In the wake of the on-going tariff conflict with the US, the PM has often reiterated that Indians should give preference to locally-made products and shun imported items. “Say with pride this is Swadeshi,” Modi said in his address, repeating it thrice. “We have to move forward with this feeling. One mantra – Vocal for Local; one path – Atmanirbhar Bharat; one goal – Developed India,” he added. The festive season began with Raksha Bandhan on August 9 and will continue till Diwali and Chhat in October.
Modi touched upon some other issues in his address, including the integration of the erstwhile province of Hyderabad which was ruled by Nizams during the British rule and had a sizable minority population. Modi also expressed concern over cloudbursts and flash floods in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and other hilly regions of the country and condoled the loss of lives in the natural disasters.
