Impressed by his entrepreneurship quality, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accepted the request of a beekeeper in Kashmir's Pulwama district to have a selfie with him.
"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", the Prime Minister tweeted on his social media account sharing a selfie with Nazim.
For Nazim, it was like a dream to have a selfie with the Prime Minister.
"I am really happy that I was chosen to speak with Prime Minister Modi today. Prime Minister asked me about my journey and he also gave some suggestions. In the end, I requested the Prime Minister to take a selfie with me and he fulfilled my request. That was really beautiful", Nazim said.
Nazim briefs the Prime Minister about his success story
Nazim Nazeer from Pulwama district of Kashmir, 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 Nazeer building a brand for himself 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.
He further informed the Prime Minister about receiving an FPO in 2023 which has only helped him grow his business. He also thanked the Prime Minister for launching the Digital India initiative that has transformed the fintech landscape in the country.
Prime Minister lauds Nazim's efforts of sweet revolution
The Prime Minister lauded Nazim's effort to lead the way to a sweet revolution in Jammu and Kashmir and congratulated him on his success.
Upon the Prime Minister's inquiry 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.
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. pic.twitter.com/zmAYF57Gbl
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 7, 2024
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.
He also mentioned similar successful efforts in Uttarakhand. 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 Nazim is also giving direction to the youth of India and becoming an inspiration.
