At Cabinet meet, PM asks ministers to encourage people to buy Swadeshi products

NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday reiterated the need to focus on self-reliance and ‘vocal-for-local’ while chairing the cabinet meeting. He also said India is ready to face all challenges and asked ministers to encourage and motivate people to buy more ‘Made in India’ products, TOI has learnt.The PM’s remarks gain significance as the US doubled tariffs on many imports from India to 50%. Modi has been consistently promoting ‘Made in India’ products, and in recent weeks, he has urged traders and shopkeepers to put up boards saying “swadeshi goods sold here”. ‘Swadeshi’ should be the ‘mantra’, and irrespective of who puts in the investment, the production must be Indian, Modi had said on Tuesday.Sources said that in a list of suggestions, Modi has urged ministers to spread the message of the govt expanding the coverage of the PM Svanidhi scheme for street vendors for more people to get the benefit of subsidised loans and to see that the beneficiaries get specially designed T-shirts so that they can be identified quickly. This will help spread the message of the government’s focus on welfare of the poor, they added.PM also asked ministers to hold events of their ministries and departments across the country instead of just hosting them in Delhi so that people at large come to know about the activities and schemes undertaken by the Centre. There will be greater focus on holding such events and programmes in poll-bound states. “Ministers have been advised to see that ministries and departments don’t host more than one international event in two years since officials end up spending a lot of time for their preparation,” said a source.