Relevance of the Swadeshi Movement in today's India

The Swadeshi Movement began in the early 1900s in India in order to encourage the boycott of the use of imported goods and stimulate the growth of demand for products made in India. The impact of this movement was unprecedented as Indians lead by the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Vinoba Bhave and many more, boosted the Indian economy in a very simple manner, by using indigenous products. We began manufacturing our own salt, sugar, matches, etc. this movement also led to the establishment of chemical and steel industries in India.The motive of this movement was to create employment for the unemployed, encouraging village industires and building a nation which can be self sufficient. A deeper look at the Directive Principles of State Policy will also tell us that the framers of the Constitution of India wanted to ensure that India would besides her international trade relations be self-sufficient in all areas. The Gandhian principles embedded in the Constitution direct the State to follow few simple measures to attain progress. The emphasis laid by the Mahatma on the growth and development of villages, agriculture and cottage industries under Part IV of the Constitution come back to us in the most daunting way possible today. I am no scholar on Mahatma Gandhi, but the very little that I have read about him reiterates the fact his foresight was not to be matched and cannot ever be matched. It cannot be denied that the Indian Government over the past 60 odd years has tried its best to ensure there is industrialization in India, but we cannot also deny the bleak future which holds for most agriculturists in our country.
The progress of India is in the progress of her villages, this is one simple fact which has been re-emphasized by the present recession. I fail to understand how we have missed this one very simple fact in today's hi-tech, stock market crashing, share scandal creating, communally violent society! How many of us are willing to even look at what is happening in a village closest to the vicinity of our city? I know for a fact that even I have not done so. We are forgetting the lessons of history again, let us take the example of Tata Steel, this industry was first established during the Swadeshi movement in India, today it is one of India's largest steel plants. We need to understand that we have resources in our country, they are not allocated and utilized efficiently. I'm sure Tommy Hilfiger or United Colors of Benetton are on their way to launch their new spring-summer collection, forgive me if I am outdated on this issue, what has that got to do with you or the Indian economy and recession you ask? If you are willing to forego your Tommy T Shirt (priced at Rs 1500 at the minimum) and are willing to buy a shirt made by the Khadi Bhandar (priced at Rs 300 at the maximum) or even a store which acquires apparell made by indegenous artisans in villages across the country, you are not only saving money but you are also contributing to the cotton industry by creating a demand for cotton apparell. And guess what these stores pack the clothes you buy in paper/cotton bags, an added bonus to the ecological system! Each cotton kurta/shirt you buy form one of these places will not only create a demand for manufacture, it will inturn create a demand for cultivation of cotton. It is not so wholly bad if u look at it, you are contributing to the economy in the simplest of ways while saving on at least 3/4 of the price at a Tommy store and you are also contributing to the ecological system because your demand creates a demand for agriculture.
Well this is the sort of "protectionism" that Gordon Brown requested the US Congress to give up in order to establish a stronger global economic community, while I feel that there is a need for that, it is not going to happen unless we are self-sufficient. But lets not get caught up in Gordonism on world economy and forget that "charity begins at home", we cannot overlook this extremely selfish yet extremely sensible quote devised by the Kannada author here. India must definitely help in the establishment of a global economic community, but only after she has fed her own and survived her share of the recession. I believe that the RBI's actions during the recession have been commendable, if it were not for the RBI's conservative outlook and approach India would be a sinking ship today, and you and I would be reconsidering the plate of idli at Veena Stores which would cost us Rs 10/-.
I do hope that in the days to come more people realise the necessity of development of agriculture and animal husbandry in this country. It is not only the recession which is overbearing in the present times, we must not also forget the haunting food crisis which is likely to arise if there is further decline in agriculture. I hope the green revolution is called back into force, and not for hybrid seeds this time, but for the recall of agriculture as a profession and the backbone of the nation's economy. I believe that tehre is a need to recall the Swadeshi movement, not to boycott foreign goods but to create demand in our companies and our economic system. I pledge to switch to Khadi hereon, I hope many more do the same.