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Updated: Jun 15, 2020 06:08 IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address on Independence Day saw him appeal to the people to join hands to take on the challenges faced by the country. He highlighted the issue of population explosion and said there is a need to have greater discussion and awareness.

PM Modi praised those with small families for their “patriotism”. “There is a section of people who understand this problem. They take conscious decision to have smaller families, we should learn from them. Those who follow the policy of small family also contribute to the development of the nation, it is also a form of patriotism,” he said.

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Here are the top five appeals from PM Modi’s Independence Day speech:

• Prime Minister Modi appealed to further the use of digital payments all over the nation. He said, “ Yes to digital payments and no to cash.”

• PM Modi stressed on need to make India free from single use plastic. He said the time for implementing such an idea has come, adding that our priority should be a ‘Made in India’ product.

”May teams be mobilised to work in this direction. Let a significant step be made on October 2 this year. Our priority should be a ‘Made in India’ product. Can we think of consuming local products, improving rural economy and the MSME sector,” he added.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi also encouraged domestic tourism in his Independence Day speech.

Talking about tourism in India, PM Modi said, “India has much to offer. I know people travel abroad for holidays but can we think of visiting at least 15 tourist destinations across India before 2022, when we mark 75 years of freedom.”

• PM Modi also appealed to the nation on more awareness on population. He said there is a need to have greater discussion and awareness on population explosion. He said, There is one issue I want to highlight today- population explosion. We have to think- can we do justice to the aspirations of our children.”

• PM Narendra Modi appealed to the nation to protect mother earth by reducing the use of chemical fertilizers and products. He said, “I want to demand something from my farmers today. I cannot let my mother earth be degraded. I want to appeal to all my farmers to reduce the use of chemical fertilisers by 30-40%. Just by doing this you will be doing a service to Mother Earth.”