Making 'pakodas' is a skill that could be stepping stone to a flourishing business, Anandiben Patel said.
Highlights
- Governor of MP, Anandiben Patel says, " making pakodas is a skill"
- 'Making pakodas could be stepping stone to flourishing business": Patel
- Anandiben Patel was addressing a tribal gathering in Chhindwara
, has waded right into the debate on job creation, with her explanation of how the opposition had misconstrued Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remark on why a person earning Rs 200 a day selling 'pakodas' can be considered employed.
Making '
pakodas' is a skill that could be stepping stone to a flourishing business, the 76-year-old former Gujarat Chief Minister appeared to reason.
"You must have seen that there was a discussion in the Lok Sabha (where references to '
pakodas' were made) and if PM Modi goes somewhere, there were protests. How did they protest...
by showing 'pakodas' (asking) if the educated were going to make '
pakodas'," the Governor said in her inaugural address at the National Convention of Gond Mahasabha in Chhindwara district, 300 km from the state capital Bhopal.
"But today I will tell you that making '
pakodas' is a skill. If you don't make good
pakodas, tasty
pakodas, then you will not find customers," she said.
"Don't think that this is not a good occupation. If he makes '
pakodas' for two years, he can open a restaurant by the third year. His own restaurant. And in 4-5-6 years, could start a hotel too," Ms Patel told the gathering in the tribal belt.
PM Modi had made the remark in a television interview to illustrate the point that the debate on job creation should not only account for the number of jobs created in the organised sector but look at generation of employment.
It had drawn sharp comments from opposition leaders, who had been attacking the government over job creation. On social media, Congress leaders such as
P Chidambaram took a swipe at the government, wondering if the government would next count beggars as employed. In cities such as Bengaluru and Puducherry, Congress leaders had put up mobile stalls to sell '
pakodas' to protest.
Opposition leaders have used the illustration to attack the government in parliament as well.
In the Rajya Sabha, BJP president Amit Shah delivered the party's rebuttal. "Chidambaram compared
pakoda-selling with begging. Those selling pakodas are self-employed. Can you compare them with beggars?" he said, pointing out that a "chaiwala's (tea-seller's) son has become the Prime Minister today."
A school principal before she first became a Rajya Sabha member in 1998, Ms Patel has been a three-time legislator in Gujarat. Ms Patel became Gujarat Chief Minister after PM Modi took charge in 2014 but had to step down in 2016. She was appointed Madhya Pradesh Governor around three weeks back.