Stop bargaining over petty amounts with small shopkeepers: PM Modi

PM was addressing the nation in his monthly 'Mann Ki Baat' programme on Sunday

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged people not to bargain over petty amounts with small shopkeepers, vegetable vendors and auto-rickshaw drivers.

Modi said the people who haggle do not hesitate to pay bills at restaurants.

"Not just this. When we go to a showroom to buy a saree, we don't bargain. But when it comes to a poor, we just cannot resist bargaining," Modi said in his radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat'.

He said people have a habit of bargaining for small amounts with vegetable sellers, small shopkeepers, auto-rickshaw drivers and in fact anyone who earns through sheer hard work.

"Two or five rupees do not make any difference, but has anyone thought how such petty habits hurt the poor?

"Have you ever wondered what a poor man goes through," Modi asked, adding that the poor were hurt when they feel their honesty was being questioned.