Bharuch: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said the money he earned from his YouTube videos was donated for Covid relief. The Minister had said on Friday he earned over Rs 4 lakh from his videos uploaded on the social media platform.
Gadkari, who is the minister for Road Transport and Highways, had said on Thursday that during the Covid-19 pandemic, he did two things – cooking at home and giving lectures through video conference.
“I have many hobbies… In this lockdown I turned into a chef… and I did 950 video conferences,” Gadkari said after inspecting the Delhi-Mumbai expressway in Bharuch of Gujarat.
“A book called ‘Unmasking India’ was also published as a compilation of those conferences. There were 10,000 copies published, but it was covid time and the book release could not happen, so the publisher told me his money was stuck. I said release it… So, even before it was published, 10,000 copies were released,” said Gadkari.
“I was earlier the MSME minister, and I used to give talks at top universities like Harvard and Oxford… Some days back I was speaking at the US Chamber of Commerce; I spoke at the Rajasthan assembly and the video became viral… . I get royalty for all that,” he said.
“I donated all that money for Covid relief,” he said.
The Minister had said on Thursday that he earned Rs 4 lakh as revenue from YouTube for his videos. The Minister on Friday concluded a two-day long inspection of the Delhi-Mumbai expressway.
He said he drove at a speed of 120 km per hour on the expressway on Thursday to check the quality of the road. “I poured tea from a flask at the speed of 120 kms per hour, and I told the engineer if this spills, you are gone,” the minister said.
Stressing on the importance of good roads, the minister quoted former US President John F Kennedy and said: “American roads are not good because America is rich, but America is rich because American roads are good”. He also said in Gujarat, 423 km of road is being constructed at a cost of Rs 35,100 crore.
