Srinagar- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met several young entrepreneurs in Srinagar during his day-long visit to Kashmir valley. He later addressed a mega rally at Bakshi Stadium Srinagar where he inaugurated initiatives worth nearly Rs 5,000 crore for boosting the agri-economy in Jammu and Kashmir
During the interaction several young entrepreneurs appraised PM Modi about the avenues being made available by the Jammu and Kashmir government after August 05, 2019. They thanked PM Modi led government at centre for extending assistance to unemployed youth of valley and ensuring their dreams to be fulfilled.
At the occasion Nazim Nazeer from Pulwama who is a beekeeper described his journey to the Prime Minister about expanding his business by availing benefits from the government where he bought 25 boxes for beekeeping at a 50 percent subsidy. He also threw light on his economic growth throughout the journey where he gradually expanded to 200 boxes for beekeeping by availing Rs 5 lakhs under Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme.
“This led to me building a brand for him and creating a website that further generated thousands of orders worth about 5000 kilograms across the nation, growing his business to almost 2000 beekeeping boxes and engaging about 100 youth from the region,” Nazeer stated.
He further informed the Prime Minister about receiving an FPO in 2023 which has only helped him grow his business. He thanked the Prime Minister for launching the Digital India initiative that has transformed the fintech landscape in the country.
The Prime Minister lauded Nazim’s effort for leading the way to a sweet revolution in Jammu & Kashmir and congratulated him on his success.
Upon the Prime Minister’s enquiry about getting initial support from the government to establish the business, Nazim said that even though he faced initial difficulty, the Department of Agriculture came forward and supported his cause.
Noting that the business of beekeeping is a fairly new sector, the Prime Minister highlighted its benefits and said that bees, in a way, work like farm laborers making it beneficial for crops.
Nazim said that landowners are ready to offer land for beekeeping at no cost as the process is also beneficial for the farmers. The Prime Minister suggested Nazim research the honey produced in Central Asia around the Hindu Kush mountains 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.
It was a dream-come-true moment for Nazim Nazeer as Prime Minister Narendra Modi not only took a selfie with him but also referred to him as a “friend”.
The prime minister later posted a tweet along with the selfie with Nazeer.
“A memorable selfie with my friend Nazim. I was impressed by the good work he’s doing. At the public meeting he requested a selfie and was happy to meet him. My best wishes for his future endeavours,” Modi wrote on X.
While lauding the efforts of the young boy from Pulwama district, Modi said he has brought a “sweet revolution” in the beekeeping sector.
“We have heard of green revolution and white revolution but you have brought about sweet revolution,” Modi said after listening to Nazeer’s story.
Prime Minister Modi expressed delight at Acacia Honey’s price going up to Rs 1000 per kg from Rs 400 per kg due to high demand across the world. The Prime Minister lauded the clarity of thought and vision, and the courage shown by Nazim in running his business and also congratulated his parents. He said that Mr Nazim is also giving direction to the youth of India and becoming an inspiration.
Ahtesham Majid Bhat an entrepreneur of Srinagar also narrated his journey to PM Modi. A bakery entrepreneur who through a food technology skill development programme brought in new innovations in bakery. She was supported by the incubation center at Government Polytechnic for Women Skill Development. Government single window system helped her and her team in getting all the NoCs from various departments.
The PM told her that in the last 10 years, the government has been providing all the support to the crores of youth in realizing their startup dreams.
The PM praised her for involving her friends from different districts in her entrepreneurial ventures. “It is our efforts that the ideas of our youth do not suffer from the deficiency of resources and finance. They should move with confidence. These daughters of Jammu and Kashmir are creating new inspiring examples for the youth of the entire nation”, Modi said. He praised them for taking care of the underprivileged daughters.
Another entrepreneur of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal Hamida Bano who is associated with the dairy business, informed PM Narendra Modi that she benefited from National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) and opened a processing unit for milk products.
Besides earning her livelihood from the diary business, Hamida has provided employment to other women also. She informed the Prime Minister about the quality check, packaging and marketing of products. Her milk products are devoid of preservatives and she informed the Prime Minister about the elaborate way of marketing her fragile product.
The Prime Minister praised her for her business acumen and also for carrying on the work of nutrition. He also complimented her for taking care of quality and doing her business in an environment-friendly way.
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