Prime Minister Modi had on Friday urged people to strengthen the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' movement by hoisting or displaying the national flag at their homes between 13 August and 15 August, stating that the movement will deepen people's connection with the national flag.
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said in a press release on Sunday that people are already visiting markets in large numbers to buy the national flag tricolour to join the campaign.
“This enthusiasm of the people is expected to culminate in huge demand for the national flag tricolour in near future. In order to ensure greater participation of the trading community, CAIT has asked the manufacturers of clothes and other items to fabricate the national flag as per the provisions of the flag code in order to meet the possible high demand," said Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general, CAIT.
The central government has set a target of voluntary installation of the tricolour on 250 million houses across the country.
“According to a rough estimate, there will be a stock of only about 40 million flag across the country. To bridge the gap between the potential demand and the stocks, CAIT has initiated necessary efforts to meet the large demand of tricolours that may come up in following days," said Khandelwal.
CAIT has asked its state chapters of Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Bihar and Rajasthan to contact cloth manufacturers in their respective states and motivate them to make more tricolour flags.
Currently, various sizes of tricolours are available in the market, ranging from Rs10 to Rs150. However, to make it easy for people to purchase the national flag, the Cultural Affairs Ministry has suggested sizes of 20"x30", 16"x24" and 6"x9".
“Apart from this, we have planned to take tricolour flags from Khadi Village Industries Commission and make them available to trade associations," said Khandelwal.
On 20 July, by amending the flag code, the central government simplified the rules for putting the national flag at houses, enabling more to display the national flag at their house through day and night.
CAIT has also appealed to the traders to observe "Tiranga Mahotsav" across the country from 13 August to 15 August.
