As soon as you enter Meera Majhi's house in Ayodhya, you see a small temple in front. A colorful ceramic cup is also kept in a steel plate among the idols of Gods and Goddesses.
When we asked the reason for keeping the cup in the temple, Meera Majhi said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to our house and drank tea in this cup."
Meera Majhi says that from that day onwards she worships that cup with the Gods and Goddesses every morning.
That passing year was 2023, on which date, on 30th December, Prime Minister Narendra Modi suddenly reached Meera Majhi's house. He drank tea prepared by Meera Majhi and spent time with the family.
Then Meera Majhi had become the 10 croreth beneficiary of the Central Government's Ujjwala scheme, on the occasion of which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reached her house.
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is a major scheme of the Central Government, under which women from poor families are given free LPG gas connections.
PM Modi spent about twenty minutes with Meera Majhi's family.
Nearly three years after that meeting, Meera Majhi's family is facing financial difficulties.
Meera Majhi says that she hoped that with Prime Minister Modi's visit to her house, her problems would go away and the financial condition of the family would improve.
Meera Majhi while talking to 'BBC News' Hindi, remembering that day, said, "In 2023, Prime Minister Modi ji had come to our house. We felt very good, we were very happy. He had come in the form of Ram. We considered him Ram because he had provided us accommodation. We were running around a lot for accommodation. We were very happy because we had provided Ujjwala cylinder."
But after three years, Meera Majhi's family is entangled in such a web of debt from which they cannot find any way out.
Meera Majhi lived by selling flowers at Naya Ghat on the banks of Saryu river and her husband Suraj Kumar Majhi lived by working as a labourer.
But after the Prime Minister's visit, the district administration helped in the form of a loan to make the family financially self-reliant.
The administration gave him two loans under the Prime Minister's Employment Generation Program (PMEGP) within a single day. This date was 5 September 2024.
Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Program is a scheme of the MSME Ministry of the Central Government.
The objective of this scheme is to create self-employment opportunities through new micro enterprises in rural and urban areas, helping unemployed youth and traditional artisans to start businesses.
This loan was given to Meera Majhi's husband Suraj Kumar Majhi. The first loan was given for Rs 2,61,250 and the second loan for Rs 23,750.
Suraj Majhi had built his boat with this amount and was paying the loan installments with its earnings.
However, due to his inability to deposit the outstanding amount of Rs 2,04,616, his loan was declared NPA (Non-Performing Asset). After this the bank issued notice to Suraj Majhi on 5 July 2026.
Meera Majhi told BBC News Hindi, "We did not ask for a loan. We thought that the Prime Minister of the country has come to our house. When DM Sahib was giving it, he said 'let the tent shop be opened.' When opening a tent shop, what is a boat? We will definitely give you the boat from ourselves. But we came to know after three months that it was on loan, when messages after messages started coming in for money."
BBC News Hindi tried to talk to the manager of Canara Bank branch in Ayodhya regarding this matter but he refused to say anything in this regard.
Meera Majhi's family of seven lives in a two-room house. At present the house where Meera Majhi lives is built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. There are three children in the house, all study in government school.
Meera Majhi's husband Suraj Majhi was collecting the outstanding amount of the loan by driving a boat but could not deposit the entire installment.
Suraj Majhi told BBC, "We were running the boat after getting the boat built. While running the boat, we were depositing the loan installments. I kept getting calls from the bank asking why are you depositing so little money? Add more money. Add more money. But we were not able to earn that much money. Somehow we deposited one and a half lakh rupees. Then suddenly when there was a theft in the Ram temple and the business came to a standstill. Then the number of passengers reduced drastically and we were not able to earn that much money. No, were not able to earn.
He says that in the meantime, his wife Meera Majhi also lost her livelihood of selling flowers at the ghat.
Suraj says, “Our wife used to sell flowers at the ghat, the Panda people there snatched away the livelihood of her flower seller. They were chased away from there. She also sat at home and we also sat at home. Then after two and a half months of flood, everyone's boat got closed."
In response to this question, Suraj Majhi told BBC News Hindi, "The number of boats in Ayodhya has increased a lot. There are at least three hundred boats here, of which one and a half hundred boats are from Rajghat, Kandharpur, but more than a hundred boats have come from outside. Not everyone is able to get work. The arrival of cruise boats on the ghats of Saryu has also affected it. The passengers who used to come and roam on our boats, now go on cruise boats. This is only our loss, no one. There is no benefit."
Meera Majhi considers her situation better before PM Modi's visit to her house.
She says that when she was selling flowers on the ghats, she was running her family better, but after getting a loan of about three lakh rupees from the bank, it became difficult to repay the loan with the earnings of flowers and boat.
Meera Majhi said, “The Prime Minister of the country had come to the hut of a poor man. We thought that if he had come, our sorrows and troubles would go away. I had full confidence that our problems would be solved. Therefore, considering him as God, kept that cup and plate near God. If the Prime Minister had thought about our three children, we would have thanked him very much."
Meera further says, “We were roaming around selling flowers but our situation was very good, after his arrival our situation became completely worse because our husband was given a loan. Before that we were paying the installment of a group. One more loan is done. It became very difficult to take care of two loans and three children each.
We only request them that if they go to someone's house, their life should not be so ruined. We would just say that you had gone after seeing our situation, so shouldn't you have thought of doing something for the house of a Nishad? Had we been a rich person in our place, what would have happened if we had gone to his house? Have you gone to a poor person's house and nothing is done for him?"
When Meera Majhi's case came to the fore in the media, people are helping her.
After Meera Majhi's press conference, on October 29, former Samajwadi Party government minister Pawan Pandey helped by giving Rs 50 thousand and Ayodhya BJP mayor Girish Pati Tripathi helped by giving Rs 60 thousand.
But Meera Majhi's family has been writing letters to the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister for some time, asking for help.
Meera's husband Suraj Majhi had written a letter to the District Magistrate on December 30, 2024, demanding to get the boat started.
At the same time, on August 17, 2024, Meera Majhi had written a letter to the Prime Minister demanding a permanent place to sell flowers at Naya Ghat. But, no reply has been received.
On August 17 itself, Meera Majhi had also written a letter to the Uttar Pradesh government.
Meera says, “We went to many people for help but no one helped us. People said that if it was a matter of two-four thousand, we could have helped but we would not be able to help with that much money."
Describing the family's mental condition amid inability to repay the loan, Meera cries, "One day our husband had even decided that we would consume poison. Our situation had come to this point. But somehow we mustered our courage and said that we will raise our voice somewhere. We will move forward somewhere."
At present, some help has definitely reached Meera Majhi but she considers it insufficient to repay the entire loan.
The discussion about the very poor financial condition of Meera Majhi came to light when Youth Congress of Ayodhya State Vice President Sharad Shukla held a press conference with Meera Majhi and held Prime Minister Narendra Modi responsible for this.
Sharad Shukla told BBC Hindi, "The financial condition of Meera Majhi's family had become much worse. Prime Minister Narendra Modi drank tea at his place and it was said that the family was given benefits from various schemes. But what is special in it? An ordinary poor family not only gets the benefits of the schemes, that family is also getting the same benefits."
“If Narendra Modi ji really wanted to help that family, he could have given grants for business. But the administration provided a loan to a family that had no source of income."
He further says, “After three years, recovery agents are coming to Meera Majhi's house where the Prime Minister had tea. This proves that the image of Vishwaguru that is being created is that of a Ponzi Guru."
Ayodhya Mayor Girish Pati Tripathi from Bharatiya Janata Party has called it an issue created by the opposition. They believe that Meera Majhi's family is being given the benefits of all the schemes of the state and the centre.
Girish Pati Tripathi told BBC Hindi, "After the departure of the Prime Minister, his house was constructed under the Prime Minister's residence. They got gas under Ujjwala scheme. Under Ayushman, health cards were arranged to take care of the health of their families."
"Under PM Swanidhi, a loan of Rs 25 thousand was given to repair the boat. Another loan of Rs 3 lakh was given, in which there was a subsidy of Rs 75 thousand. There was talk of an installment of Rs 2.25 lakh, since they were not able to pay it, they were worried about it. The government and administration cannot do anything in the matter of loan repayment, only the society can do something in this."
He says, "Mira Majhi should have come and met us. We would have helped her. This is what some opposition people came to know about. They started making a big deal out of the fact that the Prime Minister visited them. After the Prime Minister's visit, we have provided benefits from all the state and central schemes that could be provided."
After Meera Majhi's case came to light, Ayodhya District Magistrate Shashank Tripathi issued a press note and told the media that Meera Majhi is getting the benefits of essential facilities like Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, Awas Yojana, Ayushman Card and Antyodaya Ration Card.
Even today, Meera Majhi has kept the cup with which Prime Minister Narendra Modi was served tea. The memories of that meeting are special for him. But the family is still facing the crisis of debt and employment.
