Pulwama, Mar 07 (KNO): A young entrepreneur from south Kashmir's Pulwama district captured a memorable moment by taking a selfie with Prime Minister Narendra Modi after sharing his inspiring success story at Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar.
Nazim Nazir, a resident of Samboora Pulwama, while sharing his journey with the Prime Minister requested a selfie, which the PM gladly obliged. Soon after taking the selfie with the PM, Nazim started trending on social media sites.
"A memorable selfie with my friend Nazim. I was impressed by the commendable work he's doing. During the public meeting, he requested a selfie and I was delighted to meet him. My best wishes for his future endeavors," wrote the Prime Minister in a post on social media site X, accompanying the shared selfie.
Speaking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Nazim said his journey began in 2018 when he set up two boxes of honeybees on the rooftop of his house while he was studying in class 10. “I used to tend to the bees after school at 4 pm and after researching about honeybees online, they started yielding some benefits,” he said. “Then, I decided to expand my apiary and approached the authorities, obtaining 25 boxes with a 50 percent subsidy.”
With the increase in the number of boxes, Nazim's first harvest yielded approximately 75 kg of honey, which he bottled and sold in various villages. His initial earnings of around 60,000 rupees brought joy to his family and spurred him to further expand his operations.
Leveraging the benefits of the Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Nazim obtained Rs 5 lakh, which he utilised to establish his own website, transforming his honey into a recognised brand.
“I sold around a thousand kilograms of honey online through my website, and in 2023 alone, I sold approximately 5,000 kilograms," he said.
With his success, Nazim sought to inspire other youth to join him in beekeeping. Over a hundred young individuals have since joined him, and together they obtained Farmer Producer Organization (FPO) status and facilitated marketing linkages for their products.
The young entrepreneur attributed his success to the support of the agriculture department, KVIK, as well as his parents and friends.
He described his selfie moment with the Prime Minister as a "dream come true"—(KNO)