Mumbai, January 31: A Mumbai-based vada pav seller does his bit of charity by donating his one day earning for the welfare of the Indian Army. As part of his charitable decision, Mangesh Ahiwale, the vada pav seller on Tuesday sold a vada pav for Rs 5 which, on a regular day, he sells for Rs 14 each. Ahiwale had pledged to give his one-day earnings to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the welfare of soldiers. The generous soul sold the vada pav at more than 60% cheaper so that everyone could buy it and promised to send his share to the government by Wednesday.

The vada pav seller has at least twice taken initiatives like this in the past. As per reports, Ahiwale took this initiative after he realised that people were remembering soldiers only on January 26 and August 15. "This is just a small initiative so that people respect our soldiers. The amount is Rs 5, because I want that even a poor man can buy a vada pav which usually comes for Rs 14. He said that whole collection will be sent to Nirmala Sitharaman," Ahiwale told ANI.

The vada pav seller said every Indian respect the jawans and even he is one of them. “Except on January 26 and August 15, the remembrance for these soldiers is diminishing. This is just a small initiative so that people respect them every day," he added.

To recall, Ahiwale had donated Rs 20,000 in 2015 to Chief Minister's Relief Fund for farmers in drought-hit Marathwada and Vidarbha regions. Also, the generous soul was in news for his humanitarian gesture last year for a family of Elphinstone Stampede victim.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 31, 2018 03:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).