The Empowering Mantra
The campaign of ‘Vocal For Local’ strengthens the economy of the entire country. It is a guarantee of employment. This is a guarantee of development; this is the guarantee of balanced development of the country. This provides equal opportunities to both urban and rural people. This also paves the way for Value Addition in local products, and if ever, there are ups and downs in the global economy, the mantra of Vocal For Local also protects our economy.
When the people at large take charge of nation building, no power in the world can stop that country from moving forward. Today, it is clearly visible in India that many transformations are being led by the 140 crore people of the country. We have seen a direct example of this during this festive season. Last month in ‘Mann Ki Baat’ I had laid emphasis on ‘Vocal for Local’ i.e. buying local products. Within the last few days, business worth more than Rs. 4 lakh crore has been done in the country on Diwali, Bhaiya Dooj and Chhath. And during this period, tremendous enthusiasm was seen among the people in buying products Made in India. Now even our children, while buying something at the shop, have started checking whether Made in India is mentioned on them or not. Not only that, nowadays, people do not forget to check the Country of Origin while purchasing goods online.
Just as the very success of ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ is becoming its inspiration; the success of ‘Vocal For Local’ is opening the doors to a ‘Developed India – Prosperous India’. This campaign of ‘Vocal For Local’ strengthens the economy of the entire country. The Vocal For Local campaign is a guarantee of employment. This is a guarantee of development; this is the guarantee of balanced development of the country. This provides equal opportunities to both urban and rural people. This also paves the way for Value Addition in local products, and if ever, there are ups and downs in the global economy, the mantra of Vocal For Local also protects our economy.
This sentiment towards Indian products should not be limited to festivals only. The wedding season has commenced now. Some trade organizations estimate that there could be a business of around Rs 5 lakh crore during this wedding season. While shopping for weddings, all of you should give importance to products made in India only. And yes, since the topic of marriage has come up, one thing has been troubling me off and on for a long time… and if I don’t open up my heart’s pain to my family members, who else do I do it with? Just ponder… these days a new milieu is being created by some families to go abroad and conduct weddings. Is this at all necessary? If we celebrate the festivities of marriages on Indian soil, amid the people of India, the country’s money will remain in the country. The people of the country will get an opportunity to render some service or the other at your wedding… even poor people will tell their children about that occasion. Can you extrapolate on this mission of ‘Vocal for Local’? Why don’t we hold such wedding ceremonies in our own country? It is possible that the kind of system you want may not be there today, but if we organize such events, systems will also develop. This is a topic related to very big families. I hope this pain of mine will definitely reach those big families.
Another big trend has been seen during this festive season. This is the second consecutive year when the trend of buying some goods through cash payments on the occasion of Deepawali is gradually on the decline. That means, people are making more and more digital payments now. This is also very encouraging. You can do one more thing. Decide for yourself that for one month you will make payments only through UPI or any digital medium and not through cash. The success of the digital revolution in India has made this absolutely possible. And when one month is over, please share your experiences and your photos with me. I wish you all the best in advance from now itself.
(Excerpts from Prime Minister’s address in the 107th Episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on 26.11.2023)
