Mann Ki Baat has completed 12 years. The Prime Minister’s monthly radio programme aired its 139th episode on October 25, and Narendra Modi used the milestone to push one message hard: buy local products this festive season.
Updated: October 26, 2026, 10:35 IST
Quick Read:
- The 139th episode of Mann Ki Baat aired on October 25, marking 12 years of the programme.
- Modi called the show a pilgrimage and a journey, and pushed Vocal for Local for the festive season.
- He cited Purnia makhana reaching Greece, Khadi sales of over Rs 28 crore, and nearly 50 crore e-Sanjeevani consultations.
12 years of Mann Ki Baat
Mann Ki Baat began in October 2014, as a monthly radio address by the Prime Minister. Twelve years later, it has run to 139 episodes — roughly one a month, almost without a break. That run alone makes it unusual: few radio programmes by a sitting prime minister anywhere last this long.
Modi described the programme as a pilgrimage and a journey. The words matter because they frame the show as something personal, not just official. Over the years, the episodes have mixed stories of ordinary people, science, culture, health and the environment.
The 139th episode kept that pattern. It moved from local products to telemedicine, from brain research to women weavers, and from a revived river to festive shopping. Each story was short, but each carried the same message: change in India often starts in small places.
Vocal for Local: makhana to Greece
The festive push was the centre of this episode. Vocal for Local is Modi’s call to buy Indian-made goods, especially from small producers and artisans, instead of imported items. The idea is simple: money spent on local products stays with local workers.
Modi gave two export examples. Makhana — fox nuts, the light, puffy snack grown in Bihar’s wetlands — from Purnia has now reached Greece. Arhar dal, the common pigeon-pea lentil, from Kalaburagi in Karnataka has reached the Maldives. Both are everyday Indian foods. Both now travel abroad.
The point of these examples is not the size of the trade. It is the direction: products from small districts finding buyers in far-off countries. For farmers and small processors, that kind of reach can mean better prices and steadier work.
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Khadi sales cross Rs 28 crore
Khadi got its own number in the episode. Sales of Khadi products crossed Rs 28 crore on Gandhi Jayanti, Modi said. That is up by Rs 1.5 crore compared with the same day last year.
Khadi is hand-spun, hand-woven cloth, closely tied to Mahatma Gandhi and the freedom movement. Buying Khadi today supports spinners and weavers, many of them in villages. A single day’s sale of over Rs 28 crore shows that the old cloth still finds buyers in a market full of machine-made options.
The year-on-year rise of Rs 1.5 crore is small in percentage terms, but it points the right way for Khadi institutions. Festive buying, Modi’s argument goes, can turn a symbol into income for real workers.
Health and science stories
Health took up a large part of the episode. Modi cited e-Sanjeevani, the government’s telemedicine service, which has now handled nearly 50 crore consultations. Telemedicine means consulting a doctor by phone or video call, instead of travelling to a hospital. For patients in villages far from a doctor, that one change can save a day of travel.
He also cited 1.9 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandirs. These are local health and wellness centres — the first stop for basic care, check-ups and health advice in many areas. The number shows how wide the network has grown.
Science got a mention too. The Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre at IIT Madras is mapping 100 human brains, Modi said, using the Param Shakti supercomputer, and the data will be open for researchers. Brain mapping means building a detailed picture of how the brain is wired. Open data means other scientists can use it, not just one lab.
Women weavers and a river’s return
Two quieter stories closed the episode’s tour of India. In Punjab, the Nav-Trinjan initiative supports women weavers working with organic cotton. Organic cotton is grown without chemical pesticides, and the project gives women weavers both work and a market.
In Tehri, in Uttarakhand, the Heval river is being revived. River revival means cleaning up a river, restoring its flow and banks, and bringing back water that had shrunk or turned dirty. It is slow work, and it rarely makes headlines — which is why Modi’s mention matters to the people doing it.
Both stories fit the episode’s theme. Local hands, local material, local water — the same Vocal for Local idea, applied to cloth and rivers instead of snacks and dal.
The next episode will air in November, and the festive message will be tested by then: whether shoppers actually picked local products this season, or whether the call stayed just a call.
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FAQ
When did Mann Ki Baat start?
The programme began in October 2014. The episode on October 25, 2026 was the 139th, marking 12 years on air.
What is Vocal for Local?
It is the Prime Minister’s call to buy Indian-made products, especially from small producers and artisans, so that festive spending supports local workers. Examples in this episode included Purnia makhana reaching Greece and Kalaburagi arhar dal reaching the Maldives.
What is e-Sanjeevani?
It is the government’s telemedicine service, where patients consult doctors by phone or video call instead of travelling to a hospital. Modi said it has handled nearly 50 crore consultations so far.
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