Raebareli DM felicitates 98-year-old street vendor for being ‘aatmanirbhar’

A 98-year-old man Vijay Pal Singh, who sells chana (boiled chickpeas) in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh, was honoured by the district administration. The street vendor was felicitated at the office of the District Magistrate for being self-reliant or ‘aatmanirbhar’. Singh was given Rs 11,000 by the administration on Thursday, 4 March, reported NDTV. The story of the nonagenarian was noticed by the administration after his video went viral on social media platforms. In the video, the street vendor can be seen preparing boiled chickpeas while sharing his story with a customer who made this video. Speaking about the decision to award Singh, Raebareli’s DM Vaibhav Shrivastava said that the former has been given Rs 11,000 in funds for the construction of a toilet at home. He was also given an acceptance letter for the construction of the toilet.

विकास खण्ड हरचंदपुर,ग्राम पंचायत कण्डौरा निवासी 98 वर्षीय बुजुर्ग विजयपाल सिंह जी के सोशल मीडिया पर वायरल वीडियों को संज्ञान में लेकर आज कार्यालय में आमंत्रित कर शाल, छड़ी व 11 हजार रूपये नगद देकर सम्मानित किया व शौचालय का स्वीकृति पत्र प्रदान किया गया ।@CMOfficeUP @ShishirGoUP pic.twitter.com/Z1KAJdfTQx

— Vaibhav Shrivastava (@VaibhavIAS) March 4, 2021

He said that the administration will help the elderly street vendor meet all his needs. Saying that Singh was an inspiration to them, Shrivastava added, “Baba [Singh] told us that he is not doing this job out of compulsion but because he wanted to be aatmanirbhar”. Singh was also given a ration card, a new walking stick and a shawl during the small presentation ceremony. In his viral video, Singh had said that he does not want to sit at home even at this age because work keeps him healthy. It can be seen that the street vendor operates from a platform where items like lemon, diced onions and green chillies were also placed to garnish boiled chickpeas. In a clip shared by The Times of India, Singh said that he was working as he does not want to become a burden on his children. The nonagenarian shared that he has three sons but they have their families to feed so he wants to earn for himself and not rely on his children.