Pointing out that Global Toy Industry was more than Rs seven lakh crore and India’s share was only a little, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the country has the talent and ability to become a toy hub for the entire world.
“To my start-up friends, to our new entrepreneurs I say- Team up for toys… let us make toys together. For everybody it is the time to get vocal for local toys. Come, let us make some good quality toys for our youth. Toys should be such that in their presence childhood blooms and smiles. Let us make toys which are favourable to the environment too,” he said during his 68th edition of Mann ki Baat address to the nation.
Pointing out that India has a rich tradition of local toys, he said that the country had several talented and skilled artisans who possess expertise in making good toys. “Some parts of India are developing also as Toy clusters, that is, as centres of toys. Like, Channapatna in Ramnagaram in Karnataka, Kondaplli in Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, Thanjavur in Tamilnadu, Dhubari in Assam, Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh – there are many such places, we can count many names,” he said.
India has a rich tradition of local toys
“Now, just spare a thought for a nation which has so much of heritage, tradition, variety, young population, will it feel good to have such little share in the toy market?”Modi said.
He also mentioned C V Raju in Vishakhapatnam of Andhra Pradesh. Raju had started a new movement for eti-koppakaa toys along with the artisans of his village. Once the Eti- Koppakaa toys of his village was very popular. The speciality of these toys – these were made of wood, and secondly, you would not find any angles or corners in these toys anywhere. These toys were round from all sides hence there was no scope for injury to children. “By making excellent quality eti-koppakaa toys C V Raju has brought back the lost glory of these local toys. We can do two things through toys – bring back the glorious past in our lives and also spruce up our golden future,” Modi said.
let us make some good quality toys for our youth; Modi
The prime Minister also mentioned that a lot of attention was given on the impact of toys on different aspects of children’s lives in the National Education Policy. Learning while playing, learning to make toys, visiting toy factories, all these have been made part of the curriculum, he added.
