Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged the adverse impact of the West Asian conflict, on global supply chains and oil prices.He urged citizens to reduce fuel consumption and shift to public transport and electric vehicles.He also called for deferring gold purchases, limiting foreign travel, and adopting work-from-home practices where possible.
VADODARA:Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday doubled down on his austerity push and appealed to people to avoid destination weddings abroad and reduce consumption of edible oils amid the West Asia crisis, while suggesting holding temporary online classes for school students.
He reiterated his call for reduced fuel consumption, greater use of public transport and electric vehicles by citizens, and urged people to defer gold purchases in view of the crisis, which has caused large-scale global disruptions.
As a fragile ceasefire holds in West Asia, a region on which India relies heavily for crude oil and gas imports, Modi appealed to people to limit foreign travel and opt for work from home, a pandemic-era practice, wherever possible.
Addressing a gathering in Vadodara after inaugurating the Sardar Dham Hostel built by the Patidar community, the PM refrained from giving a direct reply to the Opposition criticism of his earlier remarks on embracing austerity and instead doubled down on his appeal for following such measures.
He acknowledged the adverse impact on India of the West Asian conflict, which started on February 28 with joint US and Israeli strikes on Iran, severely disrupting global supply chains and driving up global oil prices.
“First came the COVID-19 crisis, followed by global economic challenges, and now rising tensions in West Asia. The impact of all these circumstances is continuously being felt across the entire world, and India is certainly not immune to it,” the prime minister said.
He termed the situation arising from the conflict in West Asia as one of the major crises of this decade.
“However, just as we were united in combating COVID-19, we will undoubtedly overcome this crisis as well,” Modi told the gathering.
Prioritising Digital Solutions and Local Products
He noted digital technology has made many things easier and stressed the need to prioritise virtual meetings and work-from-home arrangements in both government and private offices.
“I would also urge certain schools to prioritise the arrangement of online classes for the time being,” the PM said.
He said his government was making continuous efforts to ensure minimal impact of the crisis on common citizens, but stressed that the country needed the power of public participation.
“As citizens of India, we must prioritise our duties,” he asserted, adding that whenever the country faced war or any major crisis in previous decades, citizens fulfilled their responsibilities upon the government’s appeal.
“Today, too, there is a need for all of us to come together and fulfil our duties, thereby alleviating the burden placed on the nation’s resources,” he insisted.
Reducing Reliance on Imports
He pointed out India spends ‘hundreds of thousands of crores of rupees’ in foreign currency on imports and noted that prices of goods sourced from abroad were rising sharply while global supply chains had been disrupted.
“Through every small and big effort, we must reduce our consumption of imported products and refrain from personal activities that involve the expenditure of foreign currency,” the PM maintained.