Women make up 46% of beneficiaries of street vendor loan scheme, says PM Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said women constitute 46% of the beneficiaries under the PM SVANidhi scheme, which provides credit to street vendors for business expansion.

As many as 3.5 million women have received benefits under the scheme for 2020, Modi said during his monthly ‘Mann Ki Baat’ address to the nation.

Thousands of women run tea stalls, selling vegetables, fruits and clay lamps. “Simply lack of capital often prevents their businesses from growing further… approximately 35,000 (350,000) women across the country are expanding their businesses by connecting with this program,” he said.

According to the scheme portal, there are 7.8 million beneficiaries under PM the SVANidhi scheme paid for by the government ₹19,203 crore since its launch in 2020.

The prime minister also called on citizens to support the government’s campaign to protect youth from drug addiction. “The”The Nasha-mukt Yuva campaign for Viksit Bharat’ is currently gaining momentum across the country. His goal is absolutely clear: drug-free youth; A drug-free India,” he said.

This was in the wake of a massive youth mobilization in Delhi on 20 July demanding education reforms that eventually led to the resignation of the then Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan five days later.

Modi also urged content creators to upload in different languages to help the society get rid of the drug addiction problem. “Our country has no dearth of excellent content creators. I urge them to create content in various languages that helps society in this endeavour,” he said.

Vocals for the locals

He also reiterated the need to be “loud for local”, a call to buy local products. “Whatever item we buy for our homes, make sure it is made in India. The path to India becoming self-sufficient will only be paved with pride in products made in India,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister also said that we are cultivating locally, avocados have provided additional income for many farmers at a time when the fruit has become a preferred choice in the health and premium markets.

“…avocados from our country have improved the taste of your toast while increasing the income of farmers.”

Mint reported in November 2025 that farmers are increasingly choosing to grow avocados as demand for “butter”. fruit’ began to grow.