Meet tea-seller who spends half of his income for slum children education, gets Padma Shri

Odisha: On Sunday, while addressing ‘Mann ki Baat’, PM Modi praised a tea seller who spends half his income to educate children belonging to the slum area.

According to the report published in Financial Express, a tea seller by name Devarapalli Prakash Rao (59) who belongs to Odisha contributes half his income to educate children of rickshaw pullers, daily wager and Municipal drain workers. He has been helping more than 70 children of slum area for the past 18 years.

It may be mentioned that his shop is located in Buxi Bazaar area of Cuttack. It was started by his father in 1960s.

Mr. Rao who is a school dropout had started ‘Asha O Ashwasana’ school in 2000. He decided to start school when he saw kids getting involved in petty crimes.

His school has classes till 3rd standard. He not only provides education free of cost but also feeds the children. Besides these, he provides uniform and footwears to them.

PM Modi also tweeted, “During my visit to Cuttack yesterday, I was delighted to meet D. Prakash Rao and some of the students whose life he is transforming. #MannKiBaat”.

It may be noted that on 25th January 2019, Mr. Rao came to know that he is being conferred with India’s fourth highest civilian award, Padma Shri.