<p class="p1">The 'Raksha Bandhan' this year will be celebrated with local flavor in Rajasthan, as many organizations in the state are following the Prime Minister Narendra Modi' s call for 'Vocal for Local'.</p>
<p class="p1">Weavers of Rajasthan have started making handmade 'rakhis', boycotting Chinese raw materials which till last year dominated the 'rakhi' manufacturing market.</p>
<p class="p1">Banswara will lead the show in this context as women there have pledged to use everything Indian and boycott China-made goods while tying 'Swadeshi rakhi' on their brothers' wrists. This is what Swati Jain and Sandeep Tripathi from Banswara, who runs an NGO, Sparsh Sansthan, are trying to do.</p>
<p class="p1">"On this Raksha Bandhan day, all sisters will pledge to use India made goods and shall boycott China-made goods while tying rakhis on their brothers' wrists," said Swati Jain.</p>
<p class="p1">The couple has been engaged in several social issues, including donating hair for cancer patients, renovating step wells, and launching toy banks for kids, among other things. They have a big team, which is now involved in rolling out 'Swadeshi rakhis' ahead of the festival on August 3, added Sandeep.</p>
<p class="p1">They have already started training people to make handmade rakhis using local raw materials.</p>
<p class="p1">Besides Banswara, large scale rakhi production has started in Bharatpur too in an attempt to boost the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' campaign.</p>
<p class="p1">Many people in Bharatpur are getting engaged in making rakhis using cow dung and Tulsi seeds while rejecting the Made-in-China materials.</p>
<p class="p1">Himani, who is associated with rakhi making in the Shrigopesh Panchgayvashala and Research Centre, said, "Following the 'Vocal for Local' call given by the Prime Minister, we are making rakhis which can be sown in pots or gardens after their use. A Tulsi plant will come out of it as there is a Tulsi seed placed in the rakhi. These rakhis shall be much better than the plastic rakhis which posed an environmental threat."</p>
<p class="p1">The research center is also training many people to make idols, pots, and frames by using cow dung, said Himani.</p>
<p class="p1">Vijay Ojha, also associated with the research center, said, "Last time, we had supplied these cow dung made rakhis to places like Ujjain, Varanasi, Delhi, and Jaipur. This year, we have already started receiving big orders from different places. We have 25 different types of rakhis," he said.</p>
<p class="p1">Besides Bharatpur and Banswara, a women self-help group is being trained in Ajmer to make rakhis using Indian raw materials. The training is being imparted in Arjunlal Sethi Nagar, where women are also being made aware of micro-finance schemes.</p>.