Embrace Swadeshi this festive season: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday appealed to the people to mark the upcoming festive season by embracing “Swadeshi” goods and adopting the mantra of “Vocal for Local”.

Addressing the 125th episode of Mann Ki Baat, Modi said, “At this time, the country is celebrating Ganesh Utsav with pomp and fervour. The radiance of many festivals will spread in the coming days. You should never forget about Swadeshi during these festivals. One mantra — ‘Vocal for Local’; One path – ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’; One goal – ‘Developed India’,” he added.

Modi also drew attention to the natural disasters which have ravaged the country, especially the Himalayan region. “During the past few weeks, we have witnessed grave devastation caused by floods and landslides. The pain of the families who lost their loved ones is our shared pain. Wherever the crisis struck, our NDRF-SDRF personnel, other security forces, everyone toiled day and night to save the people there. The soldiers have also availed of the aid of technology,” he said.

The PM said India will celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day on September 17, the day when the princely State of Hyderabad merged into the Indian Union in 1948.

He said amid the devastation caused by floods, a record number of people gathered at a stadium in Pulwama, where the district hosted its first-ever day-night cricket match.

The second event that drew attention was the country’s first Khelo India Water Sports Festival, held at Dal Lake in Srinagar. More than 800 athletes from across India participated in it,” Modi said.

He added that for UPSC aspirants who take the exam but do not make it to the merit list, a digital platform — Pratibha Setu — has been created to store their data. Through this portal, private companies can access information about such candidates and offer them employment opportunities.

Recalling his podcast conversation with German podcaster Lex Fridman, the PM said this had helped change the future of football players in Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh.

“Two years ago, I went to Shahdol and met football players. During the podcast, I had mentioned about the football players. This was heard by German footballer and coach Dietmar Beiersdorfer. Now, this German coach has offered to train some players of Shahdol in an academy in Germany,” Modi said.