Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that khadi has become a national symbol and a centre of interest of the nation's youth. Addressing the nation via his monthly radio address Mann Ki Baat, Modi quoted freedom fighter Sardar Patel, who had said that India's independence is in khadi. Modi added that khadi has the power to provide employment to crores of people.

In the first Mann Ki Baat address of 2016, and 16th overall, the prime minister said that the experiment of associating the spinning wheel with solar energy has been a success. "People from various parts of India are writing to me about how solar charkhas (spinning wheels) are impacting their lives," said Modi.

The Centre plans to harness solar energy to power spinning wheels across the country in a bid to make hand-woven khadi the zero-carbon footprint green fabric of India. Earlier this month, Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Giriraj Singh, received the prime minister's go-ahead for the solar charkha project. A trial has begun in the Khanwa village of Bihar's Nawada district.

A day after the 68th death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Modi said, "We observed silence [on Saturday] as a mark of respect towards our brave martyrs. If the entire nation observes silence every 30th January at 11 am, you can imagine the energy that single moment will generate."