In the latest address of Mann ki Baat, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi talked about his deliberations with the Children University of Gandhinagar, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises on how to make new toys available to the children and how India could become a big hub of toy production. He noted that toys not only augment activity, they also give flight to our aspirations. Toys, not only entertain, they also build the mind and foster an intent too, he said.

Prime Minister recalled an anecdote about toys shared by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. He emphasized what Gurudev had said about toys - that the best toy is that which is incomplete, a toy that children together complete  while playing. Gurudev used to say that toys should be such that they bring out the childhood of a child and also his or her creativity, he said.

Prime Minister noted that in the National Education Policy, a lot of attention has been given on the impact of toys on different aspects of children's lives. He said there are several skilled artisans who possess expertise in making good toys and some parts of the country like Channapatna in Ramnagaram in Karnataka, Kondaplli in Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, Thanjavur in Tami Nadu, Dhubari in Assam, Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh are also developing as Toy clusters. He added that while Global Toy Industry is worth more than 7 lakh crore rupees, India currently has a very little share in it.

Prime Minister praised the work done by Shri C V Raju of Vishakhapatnam, who, by making excellent quality eti-koppakaa toys, has brought back the lost glory of these local toys. He exhorted the entrepreneurs to team up for toys, saying it is the time to get vocal for local toys.

Talking about the trend of computer games, Prime Minister suggested making games based on the ideas and concepts of our history.

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AP/SH