New Delhi: Ahead of the Madhya Pradesh bypoll, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday heaped praises on chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for the state’s performance within two months under the SVANidhi scheme for street vendors.
The Chouhan government picked three street vendors from Sanwer in Indore, Gwalior, and Sanchi in Raisen to interact with the PM. These three are among the 27 seats which will go to the bypoll. These vendors shared with the PM how they had benefited from the scheme under which they got a loan of Rs 10,000 for a year.
“I want to congratulate the team of Shivraj Chouhan which within two months has ensured over one lakh street vendors have got the benefit and 4.5 lakh vendors have got ‘Certificate of Vending’ despite the Covid situation,” said Modi. The CM said he would send the Centre a plan for AtmaNirbhar Madhya Pradesh on the lines of the AatmaNirbhar Bharat call given by the PM.
The PM said an exemption of 7% interest was being given under the scheme but if one repays the loan within a year, it would be waived. “If you transact digitally, the government would also send you some money as cash back,” said Modi while promising that a bigger loan of up to Rs 30,000 can be given for the second time to the street vendor.
The PM also spoke about the other steps taken by the Centre during the Covid-19 crisis. According to him, Rs 31,000 crore had been deposited in the Jandhan bank accounts of over 20 crore people and Rs 94,000 crore has been sent to over 10 crore farmers under the PM Kisan Nidhi scheme.
“During the Covid crisis, we have made efforts that the difficulties of the poor should be minimised and people who are in difficulty get free rations and gas cylinders. Lakhs of people have also been given employment under the PM Gareeb Kalyan Rozgar Yojana,” said Modi.
The bypoll for 27 seats is already witnessing a lot of political action with BJP leaders from the Gwalior-Chambal region (where 17 of the 27 seats are located) joining the Congress as a protest against the inclusion of Jyotiraditya Scindia in BJP. On Tuesday, senior BJP leader from Gwalior region, Satish Sikarwar, joined Congress in the presence of former chief minister Kamal Nath.