'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign leads to an unprecedented demand for National flags

'Har Ghar Tiranga' is a campaign under the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to encourage people to bring the Tiranga home and to hoist it to mark the 75th year of India's independence. Our relationship with the flag has always been more formal and institutional than personal. Bringing the flag home collectively as a nation in the 75th year of independence thus becomes symbolic of not only an act of personal connection to the Tiranga but also an embodiment of our commitment to nation-building. The idea behind the initiative is to invoke the feeling of patriotism in the hearts of the people and to promote awareness about the Indian National Flag. The launch of this unique initiative resulted in a heavy demand for National flags across the whole country. This emerged as a golden opportunity for the traditional weavers and MSMEs from the textile sector to cater to the increased nationwide demand.

As for the citizens of India, the use, display and hoisting of the National Flag is guided by an overarching set of instructions under the 'Flag Code of India 2002' and the 'Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act', 1971. As for the manufacturers, there were instructions laid with respect to the materials which could be used to produce the National flag. Now, the national flag shall be made of hand woven or machine made,cotton,polyester,wool,silk,khadi bunting. MSMEs from the textile sector, weavers and the Khadi institutions experienced an outburst of demand for timely supply of National flags.

“Har Ghar Tiranga movement has depicted the capacity and capability of Indian entrepreneurs who manufactured more than 30 crore flags in a record time of about 20 days, catering to the unprecedented demand of Tiranga among the people. It gave employment to more than 10 lakh people who made the tricolour in their homes or at other places, engaging local tailors in a big way” said Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) National President B.C.Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal in a joint statement.

The increase in demand is also related to the government's decision to make the tricolour campaign a part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of businesses. The association had noted that the demand for flags typically peaked around Republic Day (26th January), Independence Day (15th August), and Gandhi Jayanti (2nd October). However, in the last two years due to Covid, the national festivals did not occur on a significant scale, which led to the unused stock being made available this year. This demand comes as a sign of relief for the stressed textile sector seeking for opportunities to revive their business which took a blow as a result of Covid-pandemic.