Srinagar youth Bilal Dar asks Narendra Modi for employment after PM praises 18-year-old in Mann Ki Baat

New Delhi: Bilal Dar, an 18-year-old from Srinagar who was mentioned by Narendra Modi in his Mann Ki Baat radio broadcast on Sunday, has asked the prime minister to help him get employment. Modi had congratulated Dar for helping to clean Wular Lake in Jammu and Kashmir and called him a source of inspiration for “all of us”. “Grateful (that) Modi_ji_ mentioned me. It is my request to him to please do something for my employment; there is no one else earning in the family,” Dar told ANI, expressing his gratitude to the prime minister for naming him in his Sunday’s Mann Ki Baat programme.

18yr-old Bilal Dar of J&K's Bandipora acknowledged by PM Modi in #MannKiBaat for actively taking up cleanliness drive, thanks Prime Minister pic.twitter.com/WKtD6QImgt

— ANI (@ANI) September 24, 2017

Modi also hailed the Srinagar Municipal Corporation for appointing Dar its brand ambassador. In his monthly radio programme Mann ki Baat, the Prime Minister said when there is a talk of a brand ambassador, there is a feeling that the person must be an actor or a sports personality. “But not in this case. Bilal Dar got connected to cleanliness campaign since the age of 12-13 years and has been working for the last five to six years,” he said, adding his attention was drawn to Dar a few days ago. “He clears plastic, polythene, used bottles, dry or wet waste — every piece of dirt from Asia’s biggest lake near Srinagar,” Modi said, referring to Wular Lake about 60 km from away. Modi had also championed the Swachch Bharat Abhiyan citing how Dar not only keeps the Wular lake clean but also earns a living from this activity. Modi had said that the Srinagar municipal corporation had given Dar a vehicle and uniform. However, it seems Modi’s claims were not quite as true with regards to his livelihood especially now that Dar himself has asked for a job from the prime minister.