PM Modi bats for ‘Wed in India’ campaign to boost tourism
Arjun Sharma
Srinagar, March 7
PM Narendra Modi on Thursday advocated for ‘Wed in India’ campaign to encourage citizens to opt for domestic destinations for weddings to support local tourism and asked non-resident Indians (NRIs) to participate in the ‘Chalo India’ programme by sending their family members to explore the country.
Addressing a massive rally at Bakshi stadium here, the first after abrogation of special status of erstwhile state in 2019, the PM asked those visiting J&K to allocate five to 10 per cent of their expenditures towards shopping to support the local economy and generate job prospects.
Selfie with Pulwama beekeeper goes viral
- The Prime Minister hails Pulwama beekeeper Nazim Nazeer for taking benefits of government schemes to expand his business.
- Nazeer took a selfie with the PM that went viral. The PM wrote on X, “My best wishes for his future endeavours.”
This is for the first time that a PM has chosen Bakshi stadium as a venue to address a rally which otherwise used to be held at the SKICC located on the banks of Dal Lake. Emphasising the significance of contributing to the region’s economic growth, Modi highlighted the importance of not just touring but engaging in commerce during their visit.
Meanwhile, a selfie of an entrepreneur with the PM has gone viral. The PM wrote on X, “A memorable selfie with my friend Nazim. I was impressed by the good work he is doing. My best wishes for his future endeavours.”
Nazim Nazeer from Pulwama, a beekeeper, described his journey to the PM about expanding his business by availing benefits from the government where he bought 25 boxes for beekeeping at a 50 percent subsidy.
During his interaction, Nazeer also threw light on his economic growth throughout the journey where he gradually expanded to 200 boxes for beekeeping by availing Rs 5 lakh under PM’s Employment Generation Programme.
This led to Nazeer building a brand for himself and creating a website that further generated thousands of orders worth about 5,000 kg across the nation, growing his business to almost 2,000 beekeeping boxes and engaging about 100 youth from the region.
The PM also suggested Nazeer to research the honey produced in Central Asia around the Hindu Kush mountain and also asked him to look towards crafting a new taste for honey by growing specific flowers around the boxes as it is a niche market.
Later in the day in New Delhi, he said his government has been working at an unprecedented speed and scale for the past decade and has a development roadmap ready for the next 25 years while the opposition parties only have “anger and abuses” and cannot offer any solutions.
Addressing the Republic Summit, he said that in the past 75 days he laid the foundation or dedicated to the people projects worth Rs 9 lakh crore and has been taking the work of the government to the people.
“But on the other side (opposition) there is anger, abuse and disappointment. They neither have any issue nor any solution. This is because these parties fought elections only on slogans for seven decades,” he said. Listing out the development works carried out by his government, Modi said in the next decade, India will scale new heights which will be unimaginable and unprecedented. “This is Modi’s guarantee,” the Prime Minister said.
Spend to support locals, visitors told
The Prime Minister has urged those visiting J&K to allocate 5% to 10% of their expenditure towards shopping to support the local economy and generate job prospects.
(With inputs)
