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New Delhi :PM Narendra Modi, in his latest address of ‘Mann ki Baat’ on AIR on August 30, 2020, talked about his deliberations with the Children University of Gandhinagar, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises, on how to make new toys available to the children and how India could become a big hub of toy production. He noted that toys not only augment activity, they also give flight to our aspirations. Toys not only entertain, they also build the mind and foster an intent too, he said.
The Prime Minister recalled an anecdote about toys shared by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. He emphasised what Gurudev had said about toys – that the best toy is that which is incomplete, a toy that children together complete while playing. Gurudev used to say that toys should be such that they bring out the childhood of a child and also his or her creativity, the PM said, according to a PIB release.
The Prime Minister noted that in the National Education Policy, a lot of attention has been given to the impact of toys on different aspects of children’s lives. He said there are several skilled artisans who possess expertise in making good toys and some parts of the country like Channapatna in Ramnagaram in Karnataka, Kondaplli in Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, Thanjavur in Tami Nadu, Dhubari in Assam, and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, are also developing as Toy clusters. He added that while Global Toy Industry is worth more than Rs 7 lakh crore, India currently has a very little share in it.
PM Modi praised the work done by C V Raju of Vishakhapatnam, who, by making excellent quality eti-koppakaa toys, has brought back the lost glory of these local toys. He exhorted the entrepreneurs to team up for toys saying it is the time to get vocal for local toys. Talking about the trend of computer games, he suggested making games based on the ideas and concepts of our history.