Pintu Mahara, the boatman praised by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath for earning ₹30 crore during the recently concluded Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj, credited several months of hard work for his entrepreneurial success.
Mahara recalled his inspiration for the venture saying, “In 2019, the boatmen earned a lot of money during the Ardh Kumbh. They earned lakhs. A lot of people came at that time. Seeing this, I anticipated that around 70 crore devotees would turn up in the Mahakumbh.”
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Mahara, head of a boatman family, took loans and mortgaged personal household jewellery to fund his project to build 70 boats to serve devotees during the 45-day grand religious gathering. He also noted not having enough money to fund his venture when he was planning for it.
“Life was tough. We had to borrow money and mortgage gold to get the boats. My father used to earn, then he passed away. It took a lot of efforts to build this, it took six months to get the boats ready. I took loan from several people, even put my family’s gold to mortgage. This is because we didn’t have money then,” he told ANI.
Mahara said the project led to physical strain due to the demanding workload but credited his team members for remaining committed despite falling ill a few times.
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“We had 250 people sailing the boats, and my brothers were with me every step of the way. It was hard work, but the experience was priceless. We helped everyone take the holy bath, from the rich, the poor, the specially abled. Our entire family earned money; the entire boatmen community earned money,” he recalled.
Mahara also reportedly employed over 300 people to help devotees with boat rides and also guide them to avail bathing arrangements and other services. “We put in a lot of effort, and Ganga Maiyya listened to us,” he said.
The boatman also rejected opposition’s allegations that boatmen were exploited. “We earned a lot of money, the opposition can say anything,” he said.
(With ANI inputs)