Union Minister Smriti Irani’s Provident Fund (PF) certificate, from her job at McDonald’s could be auctioned, according to a report in the Hindustan Times. Proceeds from the auction would be given to women artisans.
The minister, who recently took over as the Women & Child Development Minister, had worked at the fast food giant's outlet in Bandra, Mumbai during her struggling days back in the 1990s. Irani was then known as Smriti Malhotra. Her responsibility was to clear tables and sweep the floor for which she was paid Rs 1,800 per month, the report suggests. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.
She worked at McDonald's before getting a break as a lead actress in the television series ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’. The series turned out to be a hit, making her one of India's most-watched faces on television.
However, Irani had not withdrawn her PF earnings.
After around three decades, a member of the Mumbai-based Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL), found Irani’s PF certificate under her maiden name.
The industry body is now planning to auction the certificate and handover the sum of money to the union ministry of textiles. The money would be used to help women artisans, the newspaper report cited a senior ministry official as saying. “We will look at a cluster of women whose work needs to find takers and should be highlighted,” the official told the publication. Irani is also the Minister of Textiles.
This story erroneously mentioned that Irani worked in the outlet during the 1980s. It has been updated to 1990s.