The Modi government is committed to giving greater emphasis to small entrepreneurs, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Sunday.
Speaking at a credit outreach event in Leh where she distributed sanction letters of loans totalling about Rs 5 crore, Sitharaman underscored the government’s commitment to financial inclusion, last-mile delivery of credit and the integration of Ladakh’s unique cultural identity into the broader developmental framework.
At the event, loan sanctions exceeding Rs 5.13 crore were disbursed under key central schemes, such as MUDRA, PM Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Stand-Up India and PM Vishwakarma, the finance ministry said in a statement.
Beneficiaries ranged from homestay owners and artisans to small entrepreneurs, reflecting the government’s focus on micro-enterprise and self-employment, it said.
Sitharaman highlighted that over 64,000 MUDRA loans and more than 600 Stand-Up India loans have been sanctioned in Ladakh, with Leh district accounting for a significant share.
Public sector banks have shown increased credit activity in the region, with total loan sanctions rising steadily over the last two financial years, she said.
The minister commended the expansion of financial infrastructure in Ladakh, with over 500 banking touchpoints and increasing deployment of banking correspondents.
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She also stressed the need to anchor development in local identity, citing recent initiatives such as the recognition of local languages under the Ladakh Official Languages Regulation Act and the conferring of classical language status to Pali as the most ancient Buddhist texts exist in the language, reflecting the region’s rich heritage.
She underlined that the Union government is committed to improving access to education in the region. The first-ever cluster university in the Ladakh region (University of Ladakh) was inaugurated in 2019 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Sindhu Central University has been established to provide quality higher education, she said.
On the government’s commitment to the preservation and promotion of local customs and traditions, Sitharaman said the National Institute of Sowa-Rigpa has been set up to promote the Sowa-Rigpa system of medicine.
She also spoke about the government’s other initiatives, such as the lifting of a decade-long ban on the export and the GI tagging of Ladakh’s Raktsey Karpo apricots, followed by GI tags for Ladakh’s Pashmina wool, Shingskos (wood carving), and seabuckthorn products.
Sitharaman further outlined the progress made in infrastructure, digital connectivity, and renewable energy, including the BharatNet rollout, mobile network expansion, and green hydrogen projects.
The statement said the event brought together public sector banks, NABARD and financial institutions to deepen financial access, especially for the underserved sections, including Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, women entrepreneurs and remote communities.
