PM Modi’s clarion call to India amid global challenges

Friends, today India is rapidly moving towards the goal of development. But at this time, India is also facing many huge challenges. Friends, during the Corona period itself, the world faced a huge crisis in the supply chain. After COVID, the war in Ukraine started, which increased the world's troubles. Food, fuel, fertilizer—these three things were severely affected. Over the past five to six years, our government has been continuously making efforts to deal with this crisis. You may remember that at that time, and even today, a single bag of fertilizer was selling for ₹3000 in the world. You might say, how much for one bag? Don't say the number out loud. How much for one bag? How much for one bag? And the farmers of India are getting that same bag of fertilizer for less than ₹300. Compared to ₹3000, at ₹300, amidst these supply chain difficulties, for the past two months, such a big war has been going on in our neighborhood. Its impact has been felt across the world, and on India, the impact has been even more severe. Friends, India does not have large oil wells. We have to import petrol, diesel, and gas in large quantities from other countries. Due to the war, the prices of petrol, diesel, gas, and fertilizer have increased a lot across the world. They have crossed the sky. What is the situation in neighboring countries? That comes in the newspapers. For the past two months of this war, the Indian government has been continuously making efforts to protect the citizens from this crisis. So that the burden does not fall on the citizens, the government is bearing all the burden on its own shoulders. But friends, when the crisis on the supply chain continues, no matter how many measures we take, difficulties keep increasing. Therefore, keeping the country paramount, keeping Mother India paramount, we have to fight unitedly. We must remember that dying for the country is not the only patriotism. Living for the country and fulfilling our duties towards the country is also patriotism. Therefore, in this time of global crisis, keeping our duties paramount, we must take some resolutions and fulfill those resolutions with full dedication. For example, one big resolution is to use petrol and diesel with restraint. Friends, we must reduce the use of petrol and diesel. In cities where there is metro, we should decide that we will only use the metro. We will go as much as possible by metro. If it is necessary to go by car, then try to carpool and take more people along. If we have to send goods somewhere, we should try to send them as much as possible by railway goods trains, so that due to electric railways, there is no need for petrol and diesel. Those who have electric vehicles should also try to use electric vehicles as much as possible. Friends, during the time of Corona, we developed many arrangements like work from home, online meetings, video conferences, and we had also become accustomed to them. Today, the demand of the time is that if we restart those arrangements, it will be in the national interest. Work from home, online conferences, virtual meetings—we have to prioritize them again. Friends, in the current crisis, we also need to emphasize saving foreign exchange. Because petrol and diesel have become so expensive in the world. Prices have increased many times over. So it is our responsibility to save the foreign exchange spent on purchasing petrol and diesel. By saving petrol and diesel, we also have to save that currency. For this, even our small efforts can greatly help the country. For example, nowadays, the culture of going abroad for weddings, traveling abroad, going on vacation abroad is increasing among the middle class. We have to decide that when this is a time of crisis and our patriotism is challenging us, we should postpone plans to go abroad for at least a year. There are many places in India. We can go there. A lot can be done in India. Please make this girl sit down. She will get tired. Make that girl sit. Thank you, child. Thank you. Please sit down. I have seen her, child. I have seen her. Now you sit down. Yes. Why do you trouble this little girl, brother? Let these children sit. Please do not trouble the children. Yes. Friends, we must adopt whatever ways we can to save foreign exchange. Friends, gold—that is, the purchase of gold—is another aspect where a lot of foreign exchange is spent. There was a time when, during a crisis or war, people would donate gold in the national interest. Today, there is no need for donation. But in the national interest, we have to decide that for a whole year, no matter what function or event happens at home, we will not buy gold jewelry. We will not buy gold. To save foreign exchange, our patriotism is challenging us, and accepting this challenge, we must save foreign exchange. Friends, this time is also for another big lesson. There was a time when we used to export copper. But today, the situation in India has become such that we now have to import copper as well. By calling strikes in our country, copper plants were shut down, and now the situation is such that we have to import copper bars, and foreign exchange is spent on that. Therefore, I would also say to all such labor groups and trade unions that we must definitely pay attention to such matters. We must distance ourselves from anything that stops India from becoming self-reliant. And we must also keep a close watch on those who are engaged in such conspiracies. I would also urge the courts of the country that when such a situation arises, we should move towards finding some way in the national interest. Friends, similarly, it is with cooking oil. We have to spend a large amount of foreign exchange on its import as well. Every family, if they reduce the use of cooking oil—I have repeatedly said, reduce it by 10%. If we reduce the consumption of oil, that too is a great act of patriotism. You can contribute to the service of the country. And this will serve both the country and the body. This will improve the health of the country's treasury and also the health of every family member. Friends, another sector that consumes foreign exchange is our agriculture. We import a large amount of chemical fertilizers from abroad. Due to chemical fertilizers, our mother earth is suffering a lot. Our fields are being ruined. If we do not save our fields today, there will be a threat to crops in the future. Therefore, it is very important that we reduce the consumption of chemical fertilizers by 25%, 30%, 40%, 50%—cut it in half—and along with that, move towards natural farming. By reducing the use of fertilizers, we can save foreign exchange and also save our fields. We can save this mother earth. And we must do this. Today, the challenges that have come from global crises, we have to overcome those challenges. Friends, the Government of India is running a scheme to replace diesel pumps in fields with solar pumps. We must emphasize using solar pumps instead of diesel pumps in fields. Even during the COVID period, I used to urge that we buy local things. Move with the mantra of 'Vocal for Local'. By buying Made in India products, we can also save foreign exchange. And there is no shortage of local production in our country. Whether it is shoes, clothes, bags, we should emphasize indigenous products. And I am not saying that you should go and throw away the foreign products or foreign brands that you have already bought. I am not saying that. But my request is that we should not buy new foreign products. And indeed, many times we don't even realize how many everyday things are foreign that we are using casually. And friends, when I talk about indigenous products, people think that buying diyas for Diwali means it's indigenous. These are misleading ideas. Success does not come from this. We have to make a list of items used at home. We should see how many foreign things have entered. We don't even know. Scissors, combs, small things, toothpicks, toothpaste—so many items have entered our homes from abroad. Then, from this list, we should switch to indigenous products as soon as possible. Friends, these matters are not just about one government, one party, or one individual. This is not even an issue of the BJP. This is an issue of the country. And for this, every citizen, every political party, every government, every society, every organization must be committed. I would also urge my colleagues in the media to come forward in the national interest. Let us awaken the spirit of patriotism and ensure that the country benefits from the ongoing global crises. Let the country ride on the situation. We must contribute to creating such an environment, and only then will the country succeed. When every citizen fulfills such resolutions with complete honesty, India will surely triumph in every crisis.