The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation in collaboration with banks and Traffic Police organised a Lok Darbar to grant a loan of Rs 10,000 each to registered street vendors, at Gomtipur police headquarters in Ahmedabad, Monday.
The darbar was attended by as many as 300 street vendors from nearby areas. Over a lakh vendors have been registered under the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) in 2020.
Informing about the programme, Mahesh Kumar Darji from Urban Community Development department at AMC briefed: “Surveys for identifying the street vendors started in 2018, but the scheme took on in a full-fledged was in 2020. While studying the effects of pandemic on these vendors, we realised that that not many knew about the PM SVANidhi. There was also an increase in deaths by suicide during the pandemic. Plus, loan sharks are known to trap illiterate vendors. To tackle all these problems, we got down to the registration process.”
All the nationalised banks are part of this scheme, and a representative from each bank was also available to help with the process. To avail of the loan, the vendors must produce their Aadhaar card, bank account and street vendor identity card.
The loan is given in three steps. The first loan is of Rs, 10,000, which is to be paid back in 12 months, after this the vendor becomes eligible for a bigger amount of Rs 20,000 which is required to be paid within 18 months, and then for an amount of Rs 50,000.
If the vendor pays the amount within six months, then he or she automatically becomes eligible for the next amount. The defaulters are dealt with by barring them for any sort of loan in any other scheme.
“However, we make them understand the importance of the scheme, and its benefits, and get them back in the loop. The banks are covered by the credit guarantee fund of the RBI, so they do not suffer,” added Darji. Most of the vendors present in the darbar on Thursday, were the first-time beneficiaries.
As per the PMSVANidhi website, about Rs. 98.95 crore have been sanctioned under the jurisdiction of AMC and Rs 86.24 crores have been disbursed by the authority.
The Lok Darbar was addressed by deputy commissioner of police traffic east Ahmedabad Safin Hasan and Bapunagar MLA Dineshsinh Kushwaha.
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