Himmatnagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said one should keep doing one's work instead getting bothered by what people say.
"Let people say whatever they want to. We should continue doing our work," PM Modi said during his interaction with nearly 20 women cattle-rearers at Sabar Dairy near Himmatnagar town in Gujarat's Sabarkantha district.
The prime minister made the statement in response to a woman cattle-rearer's remark that she did not like when some people used uncouth language against him.
The woman said, "Gujarat is number one (state) today. But we do not like when someone uses uncouth words for you. We have seen your struggle to make Gujarat stand up again after the earthquake of 2001. Though people had labelled you as 'chaiwala' or 'maut ka saudagar', you kept on serving people."
However, when PM Modi interrupted her saying that all he needed was people's blessings to keep on serving them, the women present on the occasion said their blessings were always with him.
The interaction with these women cattle-rearers took place after PM Modi inaugurated two plants of Sabar Dairy and performed the virtual ground-breaking ceremony for an upcoming cheese processing unit of the dairy.
During the interaction, some of the participants said their family's standard of living went up significantly thanks to the income they are getting after selling milk to Sabar Dairy.
One of the women said she earns Rs 63 lakh per annum by selling milk to the dairy, while another woman said her family was able to buy a car, a two-wheeler and a tractor from the income generated from selling milk to it.
PM Modi expressed happiness after majority of these women farmers said they are regularly receiving the Kisan Samman Nidhi installments from the government.
"I am thankful that you are depositing Rs 2,000 every quarter. Till now, I have received Rs 22,000 in 11 instalments. This was enough to cover my personal expenditure and I am no longer dependent on my husband for meeting such expenses," said a woman.
During the interaction, Modi expressed happiness that even young and educated women were taking up cattle-rearing. He also urged women to provide education to their daughters.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)