The minister also inaugurated an egg shop for street vendors being run through the Indira Mahila Shakti initiative and distributed cheques towards Rs.1.20 crore in interest-free loans to women’s self-help groups. School uniforms were also distributed to students.

Later, Ponnam Prabhakar laid the foundation stone for the construction of SWD drains and CC roads at Ward No. 163 in Bagh Lingampally, taken up at an estimated cost of Rs.₹1.5 crore.

Speaking on the occasion, Prabhakar said the government was establishing Indira Mahila Shakti canteens through women’s self-help groups in line with Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s vision of economically empowering women.

He said the canteens were being established to provide quality meals to poor and working-class people in Hyderabad at just Rs.5, while also creating sustainable livelihood opportunities for women.

The minister said the government was providing the required infrastructure and developing the canteens as permanent facilities with all necessary amenities. He expressed happiness over the launch of the canteen near Sundarayya Vignana Kendram.

He said the Telangana government’s objective was to make women economically self-reliant and urged more women in both rural and urban areas to join self-help groups.

The government has increased the interest-free loan limit for women’s groups from Rs.5 lakh to Rs.10 lakh, he said, adding that it had been paying the interest on such loans for the past three years.

Apart from canteens, the government was creating livelihood opportunities for women through solar power projects and other initiatives, he said. The government had also launched a programme to provide RTC buses to women’s self-help groups in rural areas, making women owners of 600 buses so far, he added.

Prabhakar said the government was also considering extending the bus ownership programme to women’s groups in urban areas. He directed officials to prepare proposals to identify eligible women’s groups in Hyderabad with 100 per cent repayment capacity for purchasing buses.

He said the government was also providing sewing machines and training to BC and minority women to create employment opportunities. Steps were being taken to provide sewing machines and necessary training to women in every constituency.

The minister said the government had decided to provide quality sewing machines equipped with modern technology and urged eligible women to apply by September 30.

“Women should not remain confined to the family but should grow as financially independent individuals,” he said, stressing that women’s economic empowerment would strengthen families and lay the foundation for social development.

He said the government was implementing several programmes, including interest-free loans, livelihood opportunities, skill training, sewing machines, canteens and buses, to further strengthen women’s self-help groups.

Prabhakar urged women across Telangana to make use of these opportunities and achieve economic self-reliance. Rajya Sabha member M Anil Kumar Yadav, GHMC Commissioner R.V. Karnan, senior officials and other public representatives participated in the programme.