Loan facility under Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM-SVANidhi) has now been extended to milk vendors and newspaper hawkers along with street vendors.

In a press release issued here on Friday, District Skill Development Officer Prabhu Dhore has said that all street vendors and milk and newspaper distributors can get micro loans at minimum interest rate to expand their business by submitting application forms in the required format.

The scheme was launched during COVID-19 pandemic and micro loan facility from banks was extended to street vendors to strengthen their business activities to ensure financial stability. Now, milk vendors and newspaper distributors have also been included under the scheme.

Loan will be disbursed to those selected in three phases. In the first phase, ₹10,000 loan will be given and in second phase, ₹20,000 loan will be given, if the first phase loan is repaid within 12 months from the date of sanction. And, in the third phase, ₹50,000 loan will be given if the second phase loan of ₹20,000 is repaid within 18 months.

Those who require assistance can submit their loan applications online or approach the urban local bodies concerned with the required documents along with bank account details. Such applications will be verified by the banks where the applicants have their accounts. Later, the information on sanction of loan will be given to beneficiaries either by banks or local bodies.

According to official data, so far, 4,070 street vendors, excluding milk vendors and newspaper hawkers, have submitted loan applications in the district and of these, 3,602 have been extended loans. The district had a target to disburse loans to 3,024 beneficiaries under the scheme.

Source : The Hindu Sep 22nd 2023