‘One Nation, One Symbol’ is key to India’s self-reliance

An awareness campaign could make Indian citizens prefer those goods that have the ‘Made in India’ symbol.

(Sanghnomics is a weekly column that tracks down and demystifies the economic world view of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and organisations inspired by its ideology.)

Post Operation Sindoor, Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM), an organisation inspired by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has proposed a new and interesting paradigm linking ‘self-reliance’ with ‘national security’.

To strengthen this paradigm, the SJM is launching a nationwide campaign aptly titled the ‘Swadeshi, Suraksha (Security), Swavlamban (Self-Reliance)’ campaign.

The reason cited by the SJM for launching this campaign is that during Operation Sindoor, it was realised that “we have to make our country self-reliant and not depend on others, especially unfriendly countries.” The SJM also cites Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent clarion call for ‘Swadeshi’. Prime Minister Modi had said on May 27 in a public meeting in Gandhinagar (Gujarat), “We must encourage village traders to pledge that no matter how much profit they make, they will not sell foreign goods.”

Prime Minister Modi had underlined the urgent need to replace ‘imported’ goods with ‘Made in India’ products. He said, “It is unfortunate that even Ganesh idols are imported… During Holi, people say they want to spread colours, but foreign products keep coming.”

Foreign Goods Being Sold in Disguise

One of the biggest challenges for making India self-reliant is checking the sale of foreign goods, especially ‘Chinese products’ in disguise.

“Chinese goods are also sold in India in a disguised manner; sometimes by removing the Chinese label in the markets and putting the Made in India label, sometimes by e-commerce companies and foreign brands violating the rule of origin,” says the SJM in an official communiqué while announcing the plan to launch its campaign.

One Nation, One Symbol

One of the solutions to this challenge of curbing the sale of foreign goods in disguise can be implementing the ‘One Nation, One Symbol’ strategy. Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat (ABGP), another RSS-inspired organisation, has already written to the government of India to consider implementing it. The origin of this concept lies in a civil society campaign led by a citizens’ platform called ‘India Positive Citizen’, which has now aligned with ABGP for this campaign. ABGP, incidentally, works in the domain of ‘consumer rights’.

According to Savitha Rao, founder of India Positive Citizen, who founded the movement for 'One Nation, One Symbol': “There should be one common symbol for ‘Made in India’ that should be put on products. Every day, crores of Indians buy products from physical stores. Many are literate in languages other than English. Some did not have the opportunity for education. Unless there is a simple and clear way for them to know the ‘Country of Origin’, they cannot participate in nation-building by prioritising products that are ‘Made in India’. Currently, many daily-use products have only a price sticker on them; similarly, a ‘Made in India’ symbol can be added.”

Having a clear symbol for ‘Made in India’ will empower crores of Indians to silently fire daily economic bullets at unfriendly countries while also strengthening the Indian economy.

Citizen-Centric Initiative

It can be a truly citizen-powered initiative. The government need not make it mandatory in the initial stages, especially for micro, small, and medium enterprises. However, an awareness campaign could make Indian citizens prefer those goods that have the ‘Made in India’ symbol.

This would bring transparency and uniformity and would help change the mindset of common citizens by promoting the feeling of patriotism when they choose products with the ‘Made in India’ symbol, says the ABGP letter. It urged the government to implement it as early as possible, as this would also strengthen campaigns like ‘Vocal for Local’.

The concept note of the ‘One Nation, One Symbol’ campaign submitted to the central government makes an interesting point regarding the ‘Supply Chain’ challenges, which are often cited as a challenge for self-reliance: “Citizens, by their purchases, give a strong message to retailers and brands that they prefer ‘Made in India’ products. The message, conveyed through unsold products, will cause shifts in sourcing.”

Most importantly, the implementation of this concept does not require a capital outlay to launch. All that is needed is a distinctive logo, criteria for use, and penalties for misuse. Once implemented, it will empower every Indian with the information to make an informed choice to power India with their purchases. Indian MSMEs will experience growth, employment within India across skill groups will increase, and our need for imports will reduce. This would go a long way toward helping India take the big leap from being the fourth-largest economy in the world to becoming the third-largest.

Earlier Sanghnomics columns can be read here.