On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi encouraged citizens to allocate 5 percent of their travel expenses towards purchasing locally-made products from the areas they visit. Speaking at Mana village in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, Modi praised the efforts of local self-help groups and highlighted the importance of supporting indigenous products. While addressing travelers across the country, especially from the China border village, he appealed for a voluntary commitment to spend a portion of their travel budget on local goods, emphasizing the significance of promoting and contributing to the growth of local industries.
Modi expressed that such a initiative would not only boost local economies but also provide a sense of satisfaction to individuals. He linked the rejuvenation of centers of faith to the “Ease of Living” in hilly areas and the generation of employment opportunities for the youth. Discussing the improvement of infrastructure in the region, he mentioned the positive impact of railways, roads, ropeways, and planned drone deployment to enhance logistics in challenging areas.
The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for development projects worth over Rs 3,400 crore, including ropeway projects in Kedarnath and Hemkund Sahib. He criticized previous governments for neglecting the country’s centers of faith and credited their “slave mentality” for such neglect. Modi emphasized the need to break free from this mentality and highlighted the pride in India’s heritage and the relentless pursuit of development as the pillars for the nation’s progress in the 21st century.
Referring to historical events such as the construction of the Somnath temple and the Ram temple, Modi underscored the importance of understanding the power of India’s ancient cultures. He praised the country’s spiritual centers, expressing satisfaction at the positive shift in public perception. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami thanked the Prime Minister for his interest and guidance to Uttarakhand, recalling moments of sadness regarding the state of certain religious sites in the past and acknowledging the positive developments under Modi’s leadership.
