PANAJI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday comforted a divyang tea seller from Goa during his virtual interaction with beneficiaries and stakeholders of a government scheme by recalling his past as a 'chaiwala' or a tea seller.
Modi interacted with the select beneficiaries and stakeholders of the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat Swayampurna Goa programme' via video conferencing.'
"Aap bhi meri tarah chaiwale hai (You are also a tea seller like me)," Modi told Rurki Ahmad Rajasaheb, a differently-abled small-time businessman and a para table tennis player from Vasco town.
He runs a tea stall outside the Kadamba Transport Corporation' bus stand.
Rajasaheb is one of the beneficiaries under the differently-abled category of the "Swayampurna Goa" programme, an extension of the Central government's 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' initiative.
Rajasaheb told the prime minister about how he participated in the camp for the "Swayampurna Goa" scheme in December 2020 and subsequently became its beneficiary.
Modi said the Central government has been working towards giving respectful life to the differently-abled persons. "The government is with you. If you progress, the country will progress," the PM said.