Smriti Irani’s PF Certificate From McDonald’s Job To Be Auctioned

Women And Child Development Minister Smriti Irani is not a political dynast. She worked her way to the top, doing several odd jobs on the way before she became an actor in a very popular TV Series in the 90s. Little do people know that before getting the lead role in the show that went on to become the show everybody watched in the 90s, she was a waitress at McDonald's at the Bandra outlet of the fast-food giant in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Recently, a member of the Mumbai-based Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL), found Irani’s Provident Fund certificate under her maiden name, Smriti Malhotra.

The industry body then met the officials of Ministry of Textile, a portfolio that also comes under Irani, and decided to auction the certificate. The proceeds from the auction will go to a cluster of women artisans, HT reported. “We will look at a cluster of women whose work needs to find takers and should be highlighted,” the official told the publication.

During her days of struggle, her job at McDonald’s was to clear tables and sweep the floor for which she was paid Rs 1,800 per month. She initially appeared for an interview for a job as an air hostess but was rejected and the company reportedly cited ‘lack of good personality’ as a reason for not appointing her.

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Officials of TEXPROCIL also discussed her employment at McDonald's in the 90s with Irani when she said that she was trying to earn enough to bring food to the table and so she took the first job that she got which was working as a waitress at McDonald's. It was while working at McDonald's that Irani auditioned for the lead role of Tulsi in the famous TV serial Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, and went on to become one of TV’s most popular faces of the era.

“Once we told her that we found the account under her maiden name, we discussed how it could be leveraged to make the lives of women, struggling in the same manner that she did, better,” added the member of TEXPROCIL who found Irani’s PF certificate.

In a similar incident, around 1800 mementos that PM Narendra Modi received during his various foreign visits were also auctioned by the National Gallery of Modern Art. The proceeds of the mementos amounted to eight crore rupees which went to the Namami Gange project.

“Once we told her that we found the account under her maiden name, we discussed how it could be leveraged to make the lives of women, struggling in the same manner that she did, better,” added the member of TEXPROCIL who found Irani’s PF certificate.

After the Lok Sabha election concluded this year, Smriti Irani became known as the giant killer of BJP after she defeated Congress president Rahul Gandhi from party stronghold Amethi. Irani who became a union minister for the first time in 2014 came back in the cabinet and now heads two portfolios Women and Child Ministry and Textiles Ministry. Earlier, she has held Human Resource Development Ministry, Information and Broadcast Ministry.

Picture credit: DNA India

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