PM wants India to be world’s toy hub

Tribune News Service

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New Delhi, August 30

Advocating increased use of local products as a way to “Atmanirbhar Bharat”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday suggested people utilise a new crop of apps developed in the country and also purchase locally manufactured toys.

Recalling a recent app innovative challenge, the PM in his Mann Ki Baat address said it was a good sign for self-reliance. From around 7,000 entries, some two-thirds of them were made by youth of tier 2 and tier 3 cities.

“This is a very auspicious indication for self-reliant India, for future of the country. You will definitely be impressed on seeing the results of the “Atmanirbhar Bharat” app innovation challenge. After a lot of scrutiny, awards have been given to around two dozen apps in different categories,” he added.

Stating that the global toy industry is worth over Rs 7 lakh crore, PM Modi said, “India’s share is meagre and asked the toy manufacturers to go vocal for local toys. Citing several clusters of where toys are famous like Channapatna in Ramnagaram in Karnataka, Kondapalli in Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, Dhubari in Assam and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, he said there were many such places.

On the subject of children, PM Modi said September would be observed as “nutrition month”. “Nation and nutrition are closely inter-related. We have a maxim — “Yatha Annam Tatha Mannam”, which means our mental and intellectual development is directly related to the quality of our food intake. Experts are of the opinion that the better nutrition a child imbibes in the womb and during childhood, greater is the mental development and he/she remains healthy,” he added.

“The effort will be not just how much and how often does one eat, but focus whether they are getting essential nutrients like iron, calcium, sodium and vitamins. Peoples’ participation is essential to make the campaign successful,” he said, adding that several measures like nutrition card, quiz and meme competition would be held to popularise it.

The PM also praised the farmers and thanked them for their contribution. “Even during these trying times of Covid-19, our farmers have proven their mettle. This time around in our country, sowing of kharif crops has increased by 7 per cent compared to last year.

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