Interacting with “Bank Sakhis” or Banking Correspondents at Prayagraj’s Parade Ground, the Prime Minister spoke for some time with Shabana Parveen who hails from Rampur’s Sirsalikalan village located in Maniharan block.

Going beyond protocol, the PM took Parveen’s nine-month-old daughter and held her aloft and asked how she managed to take care of the toddler while working.

Parveen was part of the large number of working women who had congregated in the city to meet the PM.

Praising PM’s simplicity and spontaneity, Parveen remarked: “In a country where the Prime Minister himself directly interacts with the women of the village, no one can stop the progress of that country.”

Shabana Azmi from Rampur, #UttarPradesh is a 'Bank Sakhi' & helps women in her village to open bank accounts & deposit or withdraw money.

PM @narendramodi has not just empowered Shabana, he has also empowered the 1000s of women that Shabana helps!!#NariShaktiDeshKiShakti pic.twitter.com/Yl6F7iMwg1

— Priti Gandhi – प्रीति गांधी (@MrsGandhi) December 21, 2021

Even though initially she was hesitant Praveen after a while felt comfortable and at ease talking to the PM. When asked about the services she rendered as Bank Sakhi she told him: “The bank is eight km away from my village. This caused inconvenience to the elderly, women and the handicapped. When I started working as a Bank Sakhi in November, the village elders, women and handicapped people got rid of the hassle of going to the bank. I send the money of these people to their homes by doing financial transactions with the bank.”

When PM was informed that Parveen had become the top Bank Sakhi in her district by doing banking transactions of a total of Rs 55 lakh, he told her: “You are doing a very good job. Keep going like this.”

Modi blessed Parveen’s nine-month-old daughter Sidra and said she will make a lot of progress in life.

Later after the interaction, praising the PM, Parveen said that his intention is to make women self-reliant and that work is being done in this direction rapidly. “If it were not so, I would not have got a chance to attend such a big event, and talk to the Prime Minister directly,” she remarked.

Also read: PM Modi transfers Rs 1,000 crore to boost grassroot business units run by women