Vocal for Local

 It’s your road and you are alone. Others may walk it with you, But no one can walk it for you.

Our, Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi wanted 1.3 billion people of India to be “vocal for local”. It means to buy, use and promote domestic products manufactured in our home country for survival of local companies in this global pandemic of novel corona virus. The Prime Minister called for Atmanirbhar Bharat Movement, which consists of five pillars of being self-reliant India which are Economy, Infrastructure, System, Vibrant Demography and Demand.

A special economic and comprehensive package of Rs. 20 lakh crores was announced to cater to the needs of various sections which include laborers, middle men, MSMEs and cottage industry.

Creating products with the available resource focuses on using the available resources in the country and not being interdependent on other countries for various parts of product. The main vision behind being vocal is to establish India as a manufacturing center for various products and avoid being dependent on any foreign products.

There are various sectors contributing to local for vocal movement like textile industry, FMCG, dairy, oil and energy etc. To promote the message companies who have roots of Indian origin started their branding and marketing campaigns to promote and embrace their products. This has grown more beyond just marketing the home grown business and encouraged people to select local products over imported products.

The lockdown due to pandemic majorly affected the supply chain of various organizations creating shortage for products to the customers. There is a need for creating a value chain which can sustain the market requirement with availability at multiple locations and implementing manufacturing strategies. 

The Micro Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector is one of the most contributing sectors, which plays important role for development of entrepreneurial skills and promotes innovation. There are Rs. 3 lakh crores collateral free automatic loans for business including MSMEs, The IT and IT enabled services (ITES) is also strengthen over the past few decades and proves to be beneficial in this crisis situation.

The various Indian start-ups like Paytm, Zomato, Ola and many others have suffered due to the pandemic as there are protective policies implemented by people. There are strategies adopted by these companies to promote safety and protection of the people with contactless deliveries, safety in virtual pay and proper sanitized services to customers. 

The Indian pharma has helped with supply of various vaccines all over the world and there are various Indian companies who have come up with manufacturing Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kits, which are more reliable as compared to the one which were exported from foreign countries. There is sanction of Rs. 15000 crores for Emergency Health Response Package.

It has been observed that the local products produced in the country are more effective in terms of the quality and price as compared to foreign products. The government is trying its best to manage the stability of the economy and making funds easily available to various sectors facing the liquidity crisis. It is good to be vocal for local products for development of economy during this global pandemic.

-Rtr. Yougendra More