If we want to build ‘Brand India’, we should not pay heed to the dictates of the West about what is right. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said this at the ‘India Ideas Conclave 2024’. She said, “We have been producing goods for thousands of years, the issue of exploitation never arose and suddenly for a traditional industry like, say, carpet making, you get a dictate from Western buyers that you are using children to make these carpets. We will not buy it from you.”
The craft is taught from an early age.
Sitharaman said, “Families in India are engaged in making craftsmen without depriving children of schooling because unless the craft is learned at a very young age, a craftsman can never master it. In such a situation, we have to stand up and say that we care about their education.” She said that the kind of steps that need to be taken for better ethical production should be done by us on our own and not after the issuance of Western orders.
Brands of Ancient India
Sitharaman also said that the importance of our temples and our iconic tourist centers should be much more than it is now. She said that people need to be told that India’s strength in science has been unwavering since ancient times. Sitharaman said that India has a rich repository of knowledge thanks to ancient texts like ‘Sushruta Samhita’. These are the brands of ancient India, which we refer to even today.