Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will launch the Jagananna Thodu scheme on Tuesday, which aims to provide a helping hand to small and petty vendors across the State.
Under this scheme, an interest-free loan of ₹10,000 would be provided to 3.7 lakh small and petty vendors at an expenditure of ₹370 crore.
The scheme was launched by the Chief Minister on November 25, 2020, and in the first phase ₹535 crore was disbursed by the banks to 5.35 lakh beneficiaries. The government had paid ₹29.42 crore towards interest for the phase-1 beneficiaries.
In phase-2, the State government has decided to extend financial assistance to 3.7 lakh beneficiaries through Sthreenidhi Credit Cooperative Federation and APCOB covering all the eligible beneficiaries by sanctioning loans in rural and urban areas. The government will pay ₹20.35 crore interest on the ₹370 crore loan. A total of ₹49.77 crore is being borne by the government under the scheme.
The main objective of the scheme is to free vendors from paying heavy interest for the loans taken from private parties and falling into debts.
The banks will be providing loans to all the eligible members and the government will pay the interest for the loan amount to the banks, by reimbursing it to beneficiaries’ accounts. Vegetable vendors, fruit vendors, small shopkeepers, pushcart vendors, and traditional artisans are eligible to apply for the scheme.
