Anna coconuts better than PM coconuts

Coconut merchant Avtar Singh, 65, of Rajasthan is mixing business with social activism to support Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption crusade

Coconut merchant Avtar Singh, 65, of Rajasthan is mixing business with social activism to support Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption crusade. Singh, whose shop is in Naya Bazar area of Ajmer, about 130 km west of Jaipur, has named the better quality of coconuts in his shop ‘Anna’ and the relatively inferior ones ‘Manmohan’. What’s more, he is selling each ‘Anna’ for Rs 10, and charging Rs 12 for a ‘Manmohan’.

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Singh has sold around 10,000 ‘Annas’ in the last two weeks. There haven’t been many takers for ‘Manmohan’.

Singh said he was suffering a loss on each ‘Anna’ sale. “For a good change to happen, you have to pay a price.” This is not the first time he’s making a statement with his coconuts. In 2002, he used his business to endorse APJ Abdul Kalam as president.

HTC, ajmer