Mera Manjhi, the tenth-crore beneficiary of the Centre’s flagship Ujjwala Yojana expressed her happiness after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unexpectedly visited her residence on December 30.
“I was not aware that he would visit us. He came to our home. We are feeling very happy. We were not aware that God would arrive in such a way,” Mera said with a big smile on her face.
“First he came, he sat and he spoke with my children. I folded my hands and welcomed him. He then asked us what benefits we got under this scheme. I told him I got a house, gas, free water supply. I am very happy that I am now cooking on a gas and not on a furnace,” said Mera.
Manjhi further added that PM Modi had asked her what had she cooked for lunch. “I told him I have cooked daal (pulses), rice and vegetable…and also tea. He told me we must have tea during the winters. So I made him a cup of tea…” She said PM Modi told her it was a little sweeter. “I told him this was how I make tea,” she added.
Amid his packed schedule during a day-long visit to Ayodhya, PM Modi took time to visit Mera’s house, engaging in conversations with beneficiaries and inquiring about her well-being over tea.
PM Modi was offered tea at the home of the beneficiary of the flagship scheme that provides clean cooking fuel such as LPG cylinders to rural and deprived households, which otherwise had been using firewood, coal, and cow-dung cakes.
PM asked the beneficiary about everyone’s well-being in her family and the benefits she got through the schemes of the government.
After the first sip of the tea, offered to him by Mera, PM, in a humorous way, asked her, “bahut meethi chai peete ho ap log (You people take so much sugar in your tea).”
To this, Mera said that she often makes tea mistakenly with lots of sugar.
“Humesha hi ban jati hai,” she replied.
Later on, the PM praised her, saying that he is very good at making tea.
“You make good tea. I am chaiwala, so I know how to make tea,” he said.
Mera, while speaking to ANI, further expressed her delight over meeting PM Modi.
A large crowd gathered to greet PM Modi as he walked through the narrow streets of the temple town. He also took selfies with two children in Ayodhya and fulfilled their requests for autographs.
The Prime Minister even signed a painting that a boy showed him.
PM Modi also clicked selfies with the children and gave his autograph on a piece of paper that had a drawing of the Ram Temple and along with it, he wrote ‘Vande Mataram’.
The drawing was curated by a local child named Anuj, a sixth-standard student. Union Minister Smriti Irani also shared a video of PM Modi meeting with children on social media platform X.
The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was started in May 2016 to provide clean cooking fuel to poor households across the country. Under PMUY, a deposit-free LPG connection is provided to adult women from poor households.
Later on, the PM took to X to share the video of him meeting Mera Manjhi and her family and said, “The experience of visiting sister Meera Manjhi’s house in the city of Lord Shri Ram has become unforgettable!”
(With inputs from ANI)
