Swanidhi Yojana beneficiaries should get loans before Diwali: Uttarakhand government

DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand government on Saturday ordered allocation of loans to street vendors under the Pradhan Mantri Swanidhi Yojana before Diwali.

The order was issued by Chief Secretary Om Prakash during a review of the progress of the scheme, which was launched primarily for the benefit of street vendors who were hit hard by the COVID-19 lockdown.

The chief secretary said due to lack of proper awareness many beneficiaries of the scheme have not been able to avail of it.

He asked officials to facilitate allocation of bank loans to the identified beneficiaries of the scheme before Diwali by setting up camps to distribute vendor IDs and certificates among them.

Banks should also simplify the loan allocation process for the success of the scheme as the targeted beneficiaries are poor and lack education, the chief secretary said.