New Delhi: Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal today called for the integration of One District One Product (ODOP) initiative with Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). The Minister said that ONDC would help in further expanding the frontiers of ODOP by bringing buyers and sellers together on a democratic platform. He was delivering his address after launching the ODOP Gift Catalog and ODOP Storefront on GeM in New Delhi today.
Terming ODOP as an earnest effort to highlight the tremendous potential that the rich culture and tradition that India has to offer, Shri Goyal said that India’s districts and villages are home to crores of talented weavers, artisans and craftsmen.
The Minister observed that for many decades, the fruits of development were asymmetric and confined to some regions. He underscored that there has been a fundamental shift in thinking of the government in the last 8 years and said that ODOP is aligned with this vision of bringing prosperity to each and every part of the country.
Shri Goyal stressed that India can’t develop unless the remotest corners of the nation are also equal stakeholders in development and benefit equally from fruits of progress. He expressed confidence that ODOP would help bring prosperity to those at the bottom of the pyramid.
Quoting the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, Shri Goyal said that ‘each district of our country has a potential equal to that of one country…We need to understand this power and channelize this potential’.
Referring to the success that ODOP has seen in several states like Uttar Pradesh, the Minister said that convergence or ‘samanvay’ is a critical factor that would propel the success of ODOP. Shri Goyal asked that flagship programs of the government such as Startup India, Make in India, district as export hubs etc. be converged with the vision of ODOP. He asked all the Ministries of GoI to help further expand the mandate of ODOP through complementary initiatives.
The Minister asked Ministries, Departments and other government bodies to consider ODOP products exclusively for gifting purposes both within and outside India. He opined that the G20 summit which is set to take place in India soon is a great opportunity to showcase ODOP Products. He suggested that the delegates of G20 be given an exposure to ODOP products through well curated exhibitions of good quality ODOP products and tours of craft villages.
—PIB

KR Desk