‘Vocal for Local’ to Take The Indian Global

Vocal for Local

On May 12, 2020, when the countries across the globe travailed to counter the COVID pandemic, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a vision to make India ‘AatmaNirbhar’. However, one of the crucial aspects needed to translate this vision into reality is people’s engagement or “Jan-Bhaagidari ” which is often overshadowed by the ups & downs of the mainstream economic sectors, writes Adarsh Som of Elets News Network (ENN).

Recalling the words of Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Commerce & Industries, as he once said, “AatmaNirbhar Bharat is possible only with Jan-Bhaagidaari (people’s participation). When you talk of dharma, any of our old legacies and cultural heritage, it has always laid emphasis on – AatmaNirbhar Individual – AatmaNirbhar Society – AatmaNirbhar Nation. The onus of making India AatmaNirbhar is on all of us collectively.” These words simply reciprocate the significance of the citizens in achieving this ambitious target. However, a pertinent question that people might ask is HOW?

The Prime Minister, while announcing the vision of ‘Making India Self-Reliant’, gave a jargon – ‘Vocal for Local’ that would resonate with the people of India and their spirit of nationalism. Soon, ‘Vocal for Local’ emerged among the most trending slogans across the nation. As a matter of fact, the idea behind the slogan made the youth gung ho as it showed them the value of their contribution to making India a self-reliant nation.

Vocal for Local – The Strategic Idea, The Origin & The Role of Citizens

Vocal for Local, basically, calls the people of India to prefer and promote ‘Swadeshi’ or Indian products and services. Through the slogan, the Government of India urged the people to encourage Indian companies/brands by preferring their products. This provided an impetus to small-scale industries and domestic products during the COVID crisis. Besides, ‘Vocal for Local’ also eyed a two-pronged benefit – reducing dependence on foreign products and minimising import pressure and positioning India strategically as a global manufacturing hub during the economic backlash against China.

Also Read: Emerging Self-Reliant India

While delivering his seventh consecutive Independence Day speech from the iconic Red Fort in Delhi, PM Modi said, “The mindset of free India should be ‘vocal for local’. We should appreciate our local products. If we don’t encourage our local manufacturers or brands by preferring their products, the opportunity for these products to go global might never arrive… We should move forward with the mantra of ‘Make in India for the World’.”

However, though the jargon is new, the idea dates back to the time of India’s freedom struggle. The roots of ‘Vocal for Local’ lies in Mahatma Gandhi’s Swadeshi movement in 1905. Gandhi Ji along with many prominent freedom fighters promoted the Swadeshi movement as a means to embed a feeling of nationalism among the people of India.

Be it Bapu’s Swadeshi movement or PM Modi’s Vocal for Local, both lay emphasis on building self-reliance and mobilising citizens to contribute to achieving the larger goal. In the present-day scenario, it seems the idea of being ‘AatmaNirbhar’ is of great relevance, especially considering the disruptions in global supply chains owing to the infamous Russia-Ukraine conflict. So, where are we, on our journey to be AatmaNirbhar?

A noteworthy point is that the idea of going AatmaNirbhar does not mean completely shunning the imports. India, with its humongous population, is dependent on the import of several raw materials like crude oil of which we do not have enough reserves to cater to the demands. Therefore, the idea behind self-reliance is to engage citizens to promote local industries and consume local products & services as much as possible. This, in the long run, will help in uplifting domestic industries, improve the quality & quantity of production and gradually turn India into a global manufacturing hub. Hence, turning the Government’s vision of ‘Make in India for the World’ into reality.

The Present & The Road Ahead

According to the Press Information Bureau (PIB), India’s overall imports in April-February 2021-22 are estimated to be the US $683.01 Billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 51.51 per cent over the same period last year and a positive growth of 21.66 per cent over April- February 2019-20. The top 10 items that we import include mineral fuels including oils, gems & precious stones, electrical equipment, machinery including computers, organic chemicals, plastics, animal & plant-based oils & waxes, optical & medical apparatus, and inorganic chemicals. Therefore, some of the economic sectors are heavily dependent on imports from foreign lands while others are comparatively less dependent.

AatmaNirbhar Bharat

AatmaNirbhar Bharat

AatmaNirbhar Bharat

AatmaNirbhar Bharat

Shedding light on the imports, a report by CII highlights that over 80 per cent of the components for manufacturing a smartphone in India are sourced from China. Apart from this, around 60 per cent of raw materials for medicines and medical equipment are imported. But, WHY?

There are several bottlenecks such as lack of proper infrastructure, regulatory roadblocks, unfavourable land & labour laws, inadequate transport, clean water, communication & energy infrastructure, to manufacture these products in India. Thus, the industry gets access to better quality and light-on-pocket products from foreign countries.

However, there is always a scope of improvement. In the words of Sun Tzu -“Victory comes from finding opportunities in problems.”

Also Read: ‘Vocal for Local’ Can Lead a Major Economic Transformation for India: P Narahari

The COVID pandemic brought atrocities to the nation. Thousands died, many lost their jobs and most suffered economic losses. While a blessing in disguise that the infamous pandemic brought was restoring the spirit of nationalism backed by compassion and empathy among the people. The Government of India leveraged this opportune time to launch the AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan and called the people to go Vocal for Local.

Bolstering the efforts from the citizens to promote indigenous produce, the government also launched several schemes to provide an impetus to MSMEs, local craftsmen, artisans, small- scale industries, etc. Amidst this, a major boom in the startup culture has been seen in the country. Meanwhile, schemes like Ubharte Sitaare were launched by the Centre to boost imports of certain products that have a huge potential in the overseas markets.

With the active participation of the people, the boycott China movement, and the strong media presence of the government, the Vocal for Local succeeded in its primary goal of bringing people together for a greater cause. While considering the global scenario, the Vocal for Local has the potential to disrupt supply chains and effectively position India as a “manufacturer for the world”.

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