Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the startups to team and manufacture toys to make India a hub for toy production even as he underlined the need to promote local toys.
He said that it was time to go Vocal for Local Toys. He lauded the rich tradition of manufacture of local toys in the country and the skill, talent and expertise of our artisans in making good toys. PM Modi cited the examples of places like Channapatna in Ramnagaram in Karnataka, Kondaplli in Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, Dhubri in Assam, and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh which are developing as toy clusters.
The prime minister said the global toy industry is more than Rs 7 lakh crore, but India’s share is very little in this.
He called upon the cottage industries, small industries, MSMEs, big industries and private entrepreneurs to join hands to enhance India’s share in this sector.
he mentioned C V Raju from Vishakhapatnam in this context. The Eti- Koppakaa toys of his village were very popular once upon a time.
These toys were made of wood, round from all sides and therefore there was no scope for injury to children. C V Raju has now started a new movement for Eti-Koppakaa toys with the artisans of his village.
And now by making excellent quality toys, C V Raju has brought back the lost glory of these local toys. The Prime Minister said good quality toys should be manufactured which are also favourable to the environment.
He stated that the local toy industry can bring back the glorious past and add to the golden future of the country.
Mr Modi recalled Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s words that toys should not only bring out the childhood of a child but also his or her creativity.
He added that in the National Education Policy, a lot of attention has been given on the impact of toys on different aspects of children’s lives.
Learning while playing, learning to make toys, and visiting toy factories, have been made part of the curriculum.