AGRA: Motivated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s exhortation that it is better to sell pakoras (fritters) than remain unemployed, three middle-aged men who worked as daily wagers and were unable to land a job for one year, have set up a pakora shop near their residence in the busy Noori Darwaza locality. The shop, Modi Pakora Bhandar, has become famous in the area within two days of its launch.

One of the three men, Shrigopal Agarwal (61), said, “We’re excited by the initial response to our start-up. Going by the footfall in the first two days of operation, we should be able to recover our initial investment of Rs 5,000 within this week. We’re thankful to PM Modi for inspiring us to sell pakoras.”

Rajkumar Garg (65) said, “PM Modi had said earning Rs 200 a day by selling pakoras was better than staying unemployed. His advice motivated us to start our own business. Going by the experience of the first two days, we regret wasting time and money in search of regular jobs, and not implementing PM’s advice.”

Ashok Kumar (55) said, “Each of us will be earning more than Rs 200 a day, and will be able to support our families better. We’re taking feedback from customers and trying to improve the quality of our pakoras. So far, we haven’t received any complaint. We open shop at noon and wind up by 8pm.”

The shop has five types of pakoras on offer, at Rs 120 per kg. These include mirchi (chilli), palak (spinach), aloo (potato), moong dal and kofta pakoras.