PM Modi to interact with Warangal chaiwala during next session of Svanidhi Samvaad

WARANGAL: Mohammad Mahmood Pasha, 35, who runs a roadside tea stall in Warangal city, was taken by surprise when he learnt that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with him during the next session of the Svanidhi Samvaad programme, to be organised during the first week of July.

During the Svanidhi Samvaad programme, the Prime Minister has brief chats with a couple of street vendors who received loans of up to Rs 10,000 under the PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme. Pasha, who became incomeless after he was forced to shut down his tea stall set up near the MGM Hospital, Warangal, owing to the announcement of the lockdown in 2020, had taken a loan of Rs 10,000 under the PM SVANidhi scheme to revive his business.

With that money, Pasha and family managed to wade through the dire times and also reopen his tea stall. Pasha said that he has already repaid the entire loan amount in monthly instalments. He is a resident of Patak Street in Matwada of Warangal city. It may be mentioned here that the PM SVANidhi scheme was launched by Union government to help street vendors, who have been struggling owing to the pandemic situation, revive their businesses.

As part of the scheme, beneficiaries can take loans up to Rs 10,000, at seven per cent interest, which can be repaid in 12 EMIs. Speaking to Express, Pasha said that he received a phone call from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) recently and they enquired about the loan he had taken under the scheme.

“I informed the PMO that I cleared the dues on time. Within a few minutes after that call, the MEPMA officials of Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) visited my tea stall. They informed that the PM is likely to interact with me. Later I was trained by the PMO officials on how to attend the session,” he said.