A small tea stall near the railway station in Vadnagar, Gujarat is all set to become a tourist spot. Why because this is where Prime Minister Narendra Modi sold and served tea during his childhood. The stall is located on one of the platforms of the Vadnagar Railway station.
Ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Modi had often mentioned that he used to sell tea during his childhood at the Vadnagar railway station along with his father. “Converting the stall into a tourist spot is part of a larger project of putting Modi’s birthplace, Vadnagar in Mehsana district, on the world tourism map,” said Union Culture and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma, who visited the town on Sunday.
“Inside the Vadnagar railway station, there is a small tea stall, from where our PM had probably started his life’s journey. We also want to develop that tea stall as a tourism spot. We will try to preserve the original charm of the tea stall while giving it a modern touch. Our aim is to put Vadnagar on world tourism map,” Mahesh Sharma told.
“Apart from being the birthplace of our PM, Vadnagar is an important historical center. It has the famous Sharmishta Lake and a step-well. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had recently found the remains of a Buddhist monastery during an excavation, which still continues,” said Minister.
However, Mahesh Sharma, today issued a clarification in the national capital, saying “although there was a plan to develop the Vadnagar railway station as a tourist destination, there was no proposal for giving a facelift to the tea stall.”
“The ministry of tourism along with the ministry of railways is developing the Vadnagar Railway station as a tourist destination. We have already discussed the plans. As of now, there are no plans to give any facelift to the tea stall,” Sharma said in a statement.
Earlier, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Ahmedabad Dinesh Kumar had said the entire project of developing Vadnagar and adjoining places in Mehsana district would cost over Rs 100 crore. “The development of Vadnagar railway station is one of the components of the Rs 100 crore project to develop Vadnagar, Modhera, and Patan as tourist destinations. As of now, the Ministry of Tourism has given Rs eight crore to the state Tourism Department to develop the railway station,” Kumar had said.
Officials of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had visited the town on Sunday. The team of officials was led by Sharma, who later announced that the original charm of the tea stall will be preserved while giving it a modern touch.