WARANGAL: When tea stall owner Md Mahmood Pasha’s mobile rang a few days ago, he couldn’t believe that the caller was from the Prime Minister’s office.
Exactly 11 months after clearing a Rs 10,000 loan taken under the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s Atmanirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme, Pasha has not only been promised another Rs 20,000 to his account, but will also get a rare opportunity to interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the radio programme, ‘Mann Ki Baat’ soon, officials said.
Pasha, who lost his livelihood during the pandemic, applied for the loan in August and once it was cleared, set up a tea stall.
“They called me last Saturday and I shot back, why are you asking me about the loan, I have already cleared it. So please don’t harass me. But they in turn asked me to make a video and send it,” Pasha, a junior college dropout told TOI.
Within a few minutes, officials from the Mission for Elimination of Poverty in Municipal Areas (MEPMA) of Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) visited his tea stall and asked Pasha about a possible call from the PMO office.
“They informed me that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with me. For the past few days, I have been participating in training sessions on various questions and answers virtually with PMO officials from Delhi,” Pasha said.
The tea seller has now attained instant fame, with dozens of people trooping to his tea stall near the MGM hospital for some hot tea and Osmania biscuits and to know more about him.
